What Was Lost
by rukia23
Summary: Kate Elric is Ed and Al's older sister. She moves to East City after the death of their mom and meets some interesting people along the way, including one Roy Mustang. Then she disappears. What does she know that she shouldn't? Anything? Nothing? Roy/Oc
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

So some of you are probably wondering why I'm writing another story when I already have four going, a Naruto one in planning and should probably be working on those, right? Well, I don't have much of an answer for you aside from this just came to me one day. I have the 2nd chapter done and part of the 3rd done too. Also don't expect frequent updates.

Anyways, this is mainly based off the manga, not the anime. The pairing is eventual so don't expect much right away.

I'm done now. Read on!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**A Broken Family**

Two young boys sat in front of a dull gray gravestone, it was one amongst many in the flat expanse of gray dotted green that served as the graveyard for the small rural town of Resembool. The sun that had been shining brightly over the town was beginning to sink below the groups of grassy hills that surrounded it, painting the sky in beautiful hues of purples and deep reds. With the departure of the sun came a chill breeze that ruffled the hair of both boys.

One boy had blonde hair and golden eyes, the other, appeared to be just a bit younger and had more of a dark blonde almost light brown colored hair and light brown eyes with flecks of gold in them. It was this one that broke the calm silence that had descended over them hours ago.

"Brother, I'm cold," he said quietly, lifting his head to look at the boy to his left who didn't take his eyes from the gray stone in front of him. Pulling his knees into his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs to get as much warmth as he could, the little boy went back to staring at the stone that had his mother's name carved so perfectly into it. "Big brother, I'm hungry."

Still there was no response from the blonde boy that looked so lost as he sat unmoving on the vibrant green grass that seemed to him like a mockery since it covered the dead. The sound of hushed footsteps could be heard approaching them from behind, the blonde didn't bother to look at the person approaching, but the other boy did and his face brightened a little as he looked into the beautiful gold eyes of the teen girl behind him as her brown hair frolicked about her shoulders due to the breeze. She was carrying a large woven basket in her hands that she set down between the two boys.

Smiling back at the young boy, the girl leaned down and put a blanket over his shoulders before kissing his head. "You two have had me worried," she said softly.

"Sorry Kay," the young boy replied apologetically.

"It's alright Al, but it's getting cold, you two shouldn't be out here," she answered before standing up to pull another blanket from the basket and place it over the other boy's shoulders. "Ed, why don't you come and have some hot chocolate and cookies."

"I don't want any," Ed mumbled.

"You're not going to get any bigger if you don't eat you know."

"Shut up Kate," Ed grumbled with little energy, he still had yet to remove his eyes from the stone before him.

"Sorry little brother, but that's not happening. Now get over here and eat with Al and I," Kate replied, it was an obvious order despite the soft tone of her voice.

With a grumble of annoyance, the young Ed scooted over so that he was closer to Al, Kate sat between them and placed the basket in front of her. Reaching inside, she pulled out two ceramic cups which she passed to each of her brothers before pulling out another that she set in her lap. The next thing to come out was a box that she set aside and then a cylindrical canister which was also set aside. Closing the lid of the basket, Kate set the box on top and pulled off the lid. Inside was an array of different cookies that smelled delicious.

"Mrs. Cooper made these for us, we have a lot of other things too. Everyone is being very supportive, you boys should remember to thank them since you weren't at the house with me," Kate said as she poured them each a glass of steaming hot chocolate.

"Sorry, but big brother didn't want to leave," Al replied, hanging his head sadly.

Kate ruffled his hair, elbowing Ed in the side when the boy grumbled something under his breath. "It's alright, I understand. Now get over here and keep your big sister warm, I didn't bring a blanket for myself and this coat's not very warm."

The group huddled together, sipping at the hot beverage in their hands and nibbling on the fresh baked cookies. It wasn't long after the sun sank completely behind the hills, covering everything in darkness, that Kate had to carefully pluck the remainder of the boys' drinks from their hands and set them aside. They had both fallen asleep, Ed with his head on her shoulder and Al with his head in her lap since he had scooted down to get more comfortable. Pulling Al's blanket over his small shoulders, Kate then shifted a little to wrap her arm around Ed and rest her cheek against his head.

She hummed a quiet tune to herself, occasionally stroking Ed or Al's heads while she looked up at the star lit sky above them. After what felt like hours, Kate looked down at the two boys and sighed. It was a cool night and she wanted to get the boys back home, but she didn't want to wake them when they looked so peaceful. Just as she was about to reluctantly wake her younger brothers, the light of an oil lamp from behind them, threw their elongated shadows on to the grass.

Glancing back at the person who had walked up to them, she smiled wanly at the two men and short older woman that were looking down at her.

"Hey Grandma Pinako, Mr Cooper, Mr Quartz," Kate greeted.

"Let's get you three home, shall we," Pinako said, the thin tobacco pipe that she was never without, temporarily removed from her mouth.

"That would be nice, they're a bit too big for me to carry anymore," Kate replied, letting Mr Cooper and Mr Quartz pick up Ed and Al.

Quickly packing up the blankets, cookies and left over hot chocolate, Kate grabbed her basket and led the way to the quaint little house that had been left to them. She half expected to see a light in the second story window, flashing every few seconds as her mom waved her hand over it, but she knew that she would never again see the beacon that their mom would use to make sure they all found their way home when they were out too late.

Their mother, Trisha Elric, had been a kind woman and the best mother she could have asked for. She had died suddenly three days before of a disease that she had apparently had for quite some time, but had never told anyone about. Her and her brothers were now left alone to fend for themselves since they had no idea where their father was, he had left when Kate was twelve and the boys were five and four.

Kate didn't hold any animosity towards their father unlike Ed who absolutely despised the man and now with the death of their mother, that hate only intensified. He blamed him for her death. Kate knew better, she had been able to spend more time with the man and he, though usually immersed in his alchemical research, had been a loving father and a devoted husband.

Their father, Hohenheim, had been a soft spoken man with hair similar to Al's although she thought that Ed resembled him much more, not that she would tell him that, the brat had a very short temper that she found quite troublesome at times. She on the other hand, resembled her mother more than her father, with dark chestnut hair she was told she had gotten from her grandfather and a naturally thin build. She was slimmer and more toned than her mother had been, being that she was usually chasing after one of the two boys for stealing something of hers. She was of average height for an eighteen year old, just below five and a half feet tall. Her eye color was the same as her father's, a bright gold that always made her think of a lion.

"Their bedroom is upstairs, first door on the right," Kate told the two men carrying her sleeping brothers as she let them into their small, but cozy home and set the basket down on the table a little ways to the right.

"Now might not be a good time to ask, but what exactly are you going to do Kate?" Pinako asked the obviously tired and drained girl as she plopped herself into a chair at the table.

Kate sighed, putting her head in her hands so that her long hair brushed against the smooth wooden surface. "I don't know. Dad left us a good sum of money, but it won't last forever. I can take care of them, but we'll have no source of income once that money is gone. I was planning on going to East City this year. The war with Ishbal is winding down so it should be safe enough, I was planning on getting a job and I've already been accepted to the college, it would be a shame to miss that opportunity. I know it's not as great as the one in Central, but it's close and it'll do. I could always consider the military I suppose, but then I'd be away too much and I don't want to be at someone else's beck and call."

Pinako looked up at the sound of footsteps coming back down the stairs and nodded at the two men. "We'll talk more in the morning. Get some rest and then come over for breakfast."

"Thank you," Kate replied with a weary smile.

* * *

"Ed, Al, come on get up will ya?!"

Kate grunted as she pulled on a black cardigan over a gray tank top before stomping out of her room and to the room across the hall.

"I said-"

She stopped when she saw that both beds in the room were devoid of their usual occupants and that the sheets had been left in disarray. She let a small, sad sigh slip from her lips as she shut the door and made her way downstairs. The sun was pouring through the windows on the first floor, giving everything an ethereal glow, pulling on the knee high black boots she had left downstairs the night before and lacing them slowly Kate let her mind wander, her hands pausing in their task of tying the laces of the plain, but heavy duty boots. She could hear the laughing and giggling of her brothers as they ran home with yet another of the toys they had created by using alchemy, she could hear her mom talking to them and praising them, telling them that they really were their father's sons.....

With a forlorn sigh, she pulled the legs of her jeans over the boots and stood up. The somewhat heavy material of the boots clunked on the wooden panels of the floor as she opened the door and stepped out into the sunlit day. Resembool was a rural town, there wasn't much here and since they lived on the outskirts of the town it was a bit of a walk to get anywhere, there were no cars here, only horses and your own two feet.

Standing under the shade of the large tree in front of their little blue house, Kate looked around for any sight of her brothers, but when she didn't see them nearby she knew that they were back at the cemetery. Deciding to leave them alone for the time being, she made the short trek over the dirt paths to the large two story building that served as the Rockbell home and business.

Granny Pinako and Winry were the only two there at the moment, Pinako's son and his wife, Winry's parents, were off in Ishbal trying to help as much as two surgeons could. Pinako herself was also a surgeon and very skilled maker of artificial limbs and automail, metal limbs that were attached to the nerves, giving the person who lost an arm or leg almost full use of the replacement, unlike the limited movement of something less mechanized and that was strapped on.

As the house came into view Kate's stomach grumbled, the smell of food was drifting to her nose and she hadn't eaten a full meal since the morning before and was very hungry. She thought about going to get her brothers, but she decided to let them have sometime alone, they had all been close to her and her death was hitting them all hard. Kate was just better at hiding her emotions, after all she had to step up and take care of the two young boys and she wouldn't be able to do that if she couldn't think properly and spent too much time mourning a woman she knew would want her to be happy and not sad. Ed and Al were still too young to understand that and she hoped that letting them have time alone to grieve would be good for them.

"Hey Winry, what are you doing out here," Kate asked, surprised to see the blonde girl on the porch of her home.

"Where's Ed and Al?" The ten year old asked.

"Ah, well they...." she trailed off for a moment to look over her shoulder in the direction of the cemetery. "They'll be here when they're ready."

"Oh," Winry replied, her head falling a little and her eyes drooping sadly.

* * *

After finishing the meal with Pinako and Winry there was still no sign of Ed and Al, Winry was doing the dishes in the kitchen and it was just Pinako and Kate sitting at the table.

"I thought over it a little last night, I'm going to go to East City and get a job and go to school. The boys won't be happy, but I can't do much without more education. I'll become a teacher since there's not much else to do out here," Kate told the short, elderly woman across from her.

"You could become a doctor."

Kate laughed half heartedly and shook her head. "No, I'm not suited for that line of work. I don't think I should be giving people shots when I freak out at the sight of a needle. It might not end well."

"Hmm, that's true," the old woman mused over her pipe. Her arms were folded over her chest and she looked as if she were thinking about something. "Doesn't the term start in January?"

"..Yeah," Kate answered, lowering head and staring at the cup of now cold tea that she held in her hands on the table.

"When will you be leaving," Pinako asked somberly.

It took her a moment to answer, a sad look making its way into her eyes. January was less than a month away and their mother had just past, she wasn't too keen on leaving so soon, but she needed to if she planned on providing a stable home for her brothers. "Since I was already accepted into East City's college all I have to do is find an apartment and a job....both of which shouldn't take me long. I'll probably be leaving in two weeks."

"Wh-what?"

"You're leaving?!"

Kate's eyes widened and her head snapped towards the door that she hadn't realized had opened while she had spoken. Ed and Al stood staring at her, tears forming in their eyes. Al looked sad and lost while Ed looked angry and hurt. "Ed, Al..."

"Why are you leaving?! Mom just died and now you're going to leave us too, just like that bastard did," Ed shouted, his fists balled up at his sides.

Al just sniffled as tears ran down his sad little face.

"Edward," Kate pleaded softly. "I won't be gone forever. I need to be able to provide for you in the future, dad only left us so much money and it won't last forever."

"You're not my sister," Ed yelled before turning and pushing Al out of the way and running from the house.

"Ed," Kate called, standing up so quickly that she knocked over her chair.

"Let him go Kate," Pinako said calmly, still siting with her arms folded over her chest in her chair.

"But..." Kate couldn't hold back the tears that slipped from her eyes as her own hands clenched at her sides. "Come here Alphonse," she said hoarsely, dropping to her knees when her youngest brother ran up to her and wrapping her arms around him. "I love you guys, you know that right?"

"Ummhmm," Al mumbled, rubbing at his eyes with his fists. "D-do you ha-have to..to go?"

"I'm sorry, but I'll call and write and visit all the time. I promise. I won't be gone forever, just a few years and then I'll come home and get a good job here and we'll be a family again," holding tightly to her younger brother, Kate let the tears fall from her eyes as she held him, her forehead on his small, shaking shoulder.

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Please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- I don't own Full Metal Alchemist

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**Chapter 2**

**The Soldier and the Alchemist **

Two weeks.

Two whole weeks had gone by and Ed had barely spoken to Kate or even acknowledged her presence. It was wearing Kate down, she loved her little brothers more than anything and now one of them hated her. She felt as if her heart was breaking with every huff and stubborn glare that was sent her way from the blonde, but she knew he was only hurt and she could understand that. She could only hope that one day he would understand that she was doing what she felt she had to in order to keep them free from want.

Al was handling the situation differently. He may be one year younger and only nine, but he seemed to understand a little more. He was still hurt and sad, but he wasn't going to let that keep him from spending time with his beloved older sister before she left. So their days were spent doing nothing more than spending time together while Ed ignored them, well mainly just ignored Kate, he would still talk to Al unless he brought up Kate.

On her last day, Al helped with her last minute packing and moving the few things she was taking with her to East City so that they could be loaded onto the horse drawn cart that would take them to the train station in town. Once her small trunk and a large suitcase were loaded into the cart, Kate climbed in as did Al, but Ed refused to get in the cart and instead walked beside it until they got to Pinako's where they were stopping to pick up the old woman and her grand daughter.

"Do you have everything," Pinako asked.

Kate nodded. "Yeah."

"Then lets get going. Ed get up here," Pinako ordered the blonde who was still refusing to climb onto the cart.

Ed grumbled his displeasure, but did as he was told, climbing into the cart and taking the only seat left beside Kate, who was holding Al close to her as the cart jostled down the dirt road. She attempted to put an arm around him, but he turned and glared at her.

"Don't touch me," he muttered darkly, but she could see the pain in his eyes and it only made the ache in her heart that much worse.

"Sorry," she answered, wiping the tears from her eyes before anyone could see them.

The rest of the ride was silent, no one knew what to say or was choosing not to talk because of the sad and tense atmosphere. When they finally came to a halt in front of the train station Kate was a little surprised to see that there were a number of soldiers in blue uniforms milling around. Some even had silver chains hanging from their coats, Kate knew that the chains were attached to pocket watches that only State Alchemists were given. What the military and State Alchemists were doing here was beyond her, she could only figure that with the war in Ishbal now over as of just a few days before, they were all heading back to their homes and posts.

The train was already at the station, loading up with fuel and other necessities. It was set to leave in another fifteen minutes. Kate checked her luggage and bought her ticket to East City, Pinako and the kids were out on the platform waiting for her so that they could say good bye before she boarded the waiting train. It didn't take her long to spot them as the soldiers began to reboard the train, leaving only her small family group standing in wait outside.

"Lets give them a minute Winry," Pinako said, turning to walk back into the station so that Kate could be alone with her brothers.

* * *

"Looks like that little one's not too happy with her, he won't even look at her," a man with dark hair, wearing glasses and a slightly soiled blue uniform said to the man beside him who was also wearing the same uniform, only he had the addition of a silver chain attached to a pocket watch he was currently looking at with his gray eyes to check the time. "How sad, it's obviously hurting her to have to leave."

"Stop spying on people Hughes, it's rude," his friend replied blandly, closing the silver pocket watch and replacing it in his coat and then taking a look outside to see just what his friend was talking about.

It seemed he was watching a young woman say goodbye to two boys. One of the boys was sniffling and trying not to cry while the other ignored the girl and other boy completely as he stubbornly stared at nothing, his arms crossed in front of him stiffly. The girl was having a hard time fastening a small bracelet onto the wrist of the boy struggling not to cry, her fingers were being hindered by the thin black gloves she wore on her hands. When she finally succeeded in securing the bracelet on his wrist, she turned to the other boy, the blonde refused to look at her and jerked his arm away when she went to put the bracelet on him.

"Brat," the man with the pocket watch grumbled upon seeing the look of hurt that washed of the features of the brown haired girl, she managed to school her features back into a small smile as she gave the bracelet to the other boy before hugging him tightly.

"Thought it was rude to spy Roy," Hughes replied with a smirk.

"She's pretty and young, but not too young, do you think I can get her to go out with me? It's been awhile since I've had a date," the black haired Roy replied, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully.

"You really are a hopeless flirt, you know that?"

"I'm looking for the right woman, does it matter how many I date before I find that perfect one," Roy replied, watching the brown haired girl as inconspicuously as he could as she turned away from the two boys she had been crouched in front of. As soon as she did, tears started pouring down her cheeks from her odd, but beautiful golden eyes that stood out in her pale face surrounded by her chestnut locks, she clutched the bag in front of her tighter as she quickly made her way towards the train.

"The woman is in tears and all you can think about is if she'll date you or not," Hughes sighed, shaking his head in disapproval.

"It's because of that little blonde brat, he wouldn't even let her near him."

"And this coming from the one who sad it was rude to spy. The poor thing, she must really care about those two. Wonder why she's leaving?"

"It's not really our business," Roy replied, watching the girl get on the train a little way down from where they were sitting with many other blue clothed men. From where he sat he could see down the aisle and into the next car, the same car the girl had just gotten on to, he caught a quick glimpse of her as she made to turn the corner to find a seat before she spun back around at the sound of several shouts.

* * *

"I have something for you guys. It's not much, but I made them myself," she told them, trying to sound happy and put on a bright smile that didn't quite reach her eyes or light up her face. Pulling two small silver objects from the pocket of her coat, she leaned down to put one on Al's wrist, having a little trouble because of the thin black gloves she always wore in public, she then turned to Ed who had a stubborn look on his face as he glared off into the distance. "Give this to your brother when he's done being mad at me, please." She said, handing the other bracelet to Al. Who nodded happily. The bracelets were simple links of silver with a small band that she had carved each boys name into, there was also another inscription on the back, a little heart and her name so that they would never doubt she loved them.

"Stop being stubborn brother, she's leaving, you should say goodbye," Al snapped.

"It' alright Al, leave him alone."

"I have something for you too," Al chirped, pulling out a picture of the three of them with their mom in a metal frame that was a little imbalanced.

"Thank you, did you make the frame yourself?" Kate asked, admiring the picture. It had been taken over this last summer, it was the last photo that they had taken of the four of them before their mom had past.

Al nodded pridefully, with a big grin on his face. "Yup."

"All aboard!"

Kate looked back at the conductor of the train, all passengers but her where on the train and it was ready to go.

"I love you both, I'll write and call all the time, I promise," Kate said, hurriedly tucking the picture into the small bag she was carrying with her before hugging Al tightly and kissing him on the head. When she turned to Ed and he backed away from her, she stood up and turned around without another word. She could hear Al yelling at his older brother, telling him he was being a jerk and that he should have at least said goodbye.

Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she jogged to the nearest train car and got on, she was just about to walk into the seating area when she heard a voice yelling.

"Kay! Kay!"

The train jerked forward as the engines were fed and put into gear to get them moving. Stumbling slightly, Kay turned around and looked out the open door to see Ed running up to the train, he still had a stubborn expression on his face, but he ran as quickly as he could as the train picked up speed, holding out a small metal object to her. She reached for it, holding onto the thin railing inside the door to balance herself, but she couldn't reach it. Loosening her hold on the bar so that she could reach just a little further, she slipped and would have fallen if a pair of strong hands hadn't wrapped around her waist.

"No," she cried when she almost had the object Ed was holding out to her.

"Speed up a little kid," she heard a man's voice order gruffly.

Kate didn't complain as she was practically crushed against the wall by the man who had saved her from falling. He was a bit taller than her, with black hair and pale skin, she couldn't really see his face as he kept one hand on her waist and reached out of the moving train car, all she could tell was that he was a soldier since he was wearing the standard blue uniform. His reach was much further than hers and he was easily able to grab the metal object from Ed at which point the little boy began to slow down.

"I'm sorry Kay, I love you, you better write all the time!" Ed called as he slowed and stared after the train.

Kate's eyes began to overflow with tears, her head fell into her chest as the man who had helped her stepped back to give her more room and held out what was a necklace with a silver heart dangling from it out to her.

"You okay? That was a close one," the man said, his voice was surprisingly comforting. It was deep, but there was a softness to it that made Kate feel that this stranger wouldn't judge her for crying in front of him.

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied, her voice little more than a shaky and hoarse whisper as she took the necklace from him without looking up to see the flirtatious smile he was trying to give her, holding the little heart in her hand to look at. It was simple, just a metal heart, but as she ran a finger over it she realized that it was actually a locket. Opening the locket to see what was inside, Kate started crying harder when she saw that it there were two pictures. One of Ed and one of Al, smiling brightly at her.

"Uh, hey are you sure you're alright," the man asked worriedly, the smile he had donned dropping when he realized she was crying. A lot.

Kate nodded, closing the locket and holding it in her hand as she let herself sink to the floor, drawing her knees into her chest as she sobbed.

"Hey Roy, what the heck are you doing over here? I've been...uh, what did you do," another man asked, this one sounded more upbeat than the man who had saved her and not quite as deep.

"I didn't do anything, I swear," the man she know knew to be Roy declared. "I kept her from falling out of the train and then I grabbed the necklace her kid brother was trying to hand her. That's it!"

"Uh huh."

"Oh shut up Hughes," Roy grumbled.

"Young lady, are you alright?" Hughes asked, placing a hand on her should as he leaned down next to her.

Kate sniffled, wiping the trailing tears from her eyes with her fingers before looking up at the smiling man beside her. He was also a soldier, with dark hair and glasses that fit the angular shape of his face very well. "Sorry, I'm fine. Really," she said when the man in front of her cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Well, lets get you up and to your seat, somehow I think that would be more comfortable."

"Probably," Kate replied, with a small laugh as she let the man take her gloved hand and help her up. After taking a moment to dust herself off and wipe at her eyes one last time, she looked up at the two men who were staring at her and smiled. Looking to the man who had actually saved her and retrieved the necklace, she flushed a little. The man was quite attractive with gray eyes and a lean build, but there was currently an air of sadness hanging around him that she could only guess was from his experience in the war. Averting her eyes from his, she noticed that he had a silver pocket watch tucked into his coat. "You're a State Alchemist."

The statement seemed to surprise the man, who jolted a little and looked down at the silver chain she was looking at.

"Yes," he answered somberly.

Feeling as if she mentioned something she shouldn't have, Kate turned to his friend who was smiling as he looked between the two. "I haven't introduced myself, I'm Kate Elric."

"I'm Maes Hughes, this here is my friend Roy Mustang, he's single by the way and looking for a good strong woman to be-"

"Shut up Hughes," Roy barked, smacking the older man over the head and giving him a rather menacing look.

Kate laughed which only made the two men look at her in confusion. "Ah, sorry, it's just I thought that was cute."

"Isn't she darling Roy, she'd really make a-"

"Shut up Hughes," Roy growled.

"He's only trying to be a good friend Mr Mustang, cut him slack. Right Mr Hughes?"

"Well, if you're not going to keep this lovely lady company, then I will," Hughes told Roy with a big smile before turning to Kate.

She suddenly felt a strong urge to run, but before she could, Hughes had a hold of her wrist and was tugging her through the seating area of a rather full car all the while blabbering on about some woman named Gracia and how utterly perfect she was. She looked back to see that Mustang was staring after them looking slightly confused, but also relieved, she figured it was because he must have already heard about Gracia and her absolute perfectness and the children he planned on having and what they would look like.

* * *

"Hughes, I think you're scaring her. Why don't you go bug someone else and leave the poor girl alone."

Kate jumped a little at the sound of the voice, looking to her right to see that Mustang was leaning into the bench seat she was on, staring at Hughes who had finally stopped talking for the first time in.. Well Kate really had no idea and she didn't want to think about it anymore. She liked the overly enthusiastic man in front of her, he was kind and he cared a great deal about his friends, a trait she admired, but he was a bit overwhelming for her at the moment.

"Oh alright, it was a pleasure talking to you to Ms Elric, see ya around," Hughes replied he got up to wander back into the cars that the military men were inhabiting.

"Nice meeting you too Mr Hughes," Kate called after him. "Is he always like that?" Kate asked as Mustang took the seat opposite her.

"Worse," he snorted.

"He can be a bit much, but I think he means well. He just likes to share his happiness, after all he has enough of it."

"That's Hughes for you," Mustang sighed.

"He talked a lot about you. He seems to respect you," Kate said, biting her lip when she felt the need to laugh and turning her head away from the scrutinizing gray eyes that looked at her as one dark eyebrow rose.

"Does he? And just what else did Hughes tell you?"

Kate could feel the grin spread over her face and chuckled before clearing her throat and looking back up at the man that was looking a little impatient at the moment. "That despite being a gigantic flirt, you're not very popular with the ladies for some reason, which he thinks is a problem since you apparently have some high goals and need a strong, beautiful, smart woman by your side to accomplish all your goals. He even went into detail about the woman you should marry."

"Did he now," Mustang grumbled.

"Yup. If I didn't know any better I would think that he was describing me. Brown hair, gold eyes, which are quite rare, about five foot five, perfect figure."

"A little full of yourself there aren't you?'

"What, so you don't agree?" Kate asked with a coy smirk.

"Oh, I agree. You definitely have a perfect figure," Mustang replied with a warm smile.

"You're not so bad yourself Mr Mustang."

"Roy," he corrected easily. "So where are you headed all by yourself Ms Elric?"

"Just Kate or Kay is fine and I'm headed to East City."

"Hm, what a coincidence, me too. Any particular reason?"

"To go to school and get a job. My mother died a few weeks ago and our father left when we were younger, he left us some money, but it won't last forever. I plan on trying to get in to teaching since there really isn't much else to do in Resembool," she answered with a light chuckle.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Well that's good."

Before Kate had a chance to ask why that was a good thing, she jumped when someone shouted, loudly, into their car for Mustang.

"Looks like it's time for me to go. Hopefully, I'll get to see you in East City sometime," he said with a winning smile and a twinkle in his eye.

Kate's eyebrow rose at his comment as he stood to make his way towards the military cars in the front. 'Like I'd date a flirt like him,' she thought to herself as she watched him walk away. 'Then again, I'm a bit of a flirt too, so I guess I shouldn't judge him on that fact alone.'

* * *

Two words could describe Kate at the current moment as she plopped herself down on to the futon in her small apartment; dirty and exhausted. After getting off the train in East City, she had to get a car to take her and her things to her apartment building where she found the landlord waiting impatiently outside for her. He was an older man, short and balding with green eyes and he stunk of cigarettes, he simply handed Kate an envelope and her keys before leaving her standing in front of the well kept stone building by herself.

Unfortunately for her, getting her things to the apartment was left for her alone to do and her room was on the fourth floor and there were only stairs. Lots of stairs and a very heavy trunk and suitcase. It had taken her almost a half an hour to get her things to her apartment and then another hour to get most of her stuff unpacked.

The apartment was fairly small, smaller than what she was used to anyway. It consisted of one clean room with a window in the back, against the right wall was a futon with a dark wooden frame that matched the hardwood flooring it sat upon. The walls were all a crisp, boring white that made it seem brighter than it really was. There was a small kitchen to the left, separated from the main room by a low wall, there was a door on the other side of that which lead to her bathroom as well as a small closet. The only other furniture in the place was a bookshelf under the window and a round table with two chairs in the left corner.

"Welcome home Kay," she mumbled to herself as she stared at her ceiling.

It was already dark and with a sigh, she shoved herself of the futon to take a quick shower and put her pajamas on. She needed to be up early to start looking for job and also to go to the college and register for classes since they started up very soon.

* * *

Thank you to those of you who reviewed, alerted, fave'd and what not. Sorry if I didn't personally write back, I've been sick, as usual. Apparently the pine trees give off some scent around this time of year and it gives people headaches and makes them sick...Don't look at me like like I'm crazy, I am and I know and I'm cool with it but anyways, some guy said that's what the doctor told him.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

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**Chapter 3**

**Sight in a Touch**

The next two months were little more than a blur for Kate. She spent all morning, five days a week at the college, actually morning was being vague. She had to be in her first class at 9am and her last class got out at 4pm. After that she had to run, literally, to get to work on time. She had gotten a job waitressing at a small, but popular pub called The Blue Spot. Ironically many of the patrons of the pub were soldiers and would come in for a drink after completing their duties, normally still in their blue uniforms so the place really did end up looking like a blue spot.

The pub was only a few blocks to the south of her apartment, an easy walk from there, but a relatively long one from the college that was a good mile or so in the opposite direction. She didn't mind the distance, but she did mind the fact that she had to be there, dressed and waiting tables at 4:30 on the dot.

Turned out that having two younger brothers you had to constantly chase could be a good thing, it made you fast and fairly strong, she was able to run the distance in about fifteen minutes with her brown book bag slung over her shoulder. She was always out of breath by the time she got to the pub, running in the back door straight to the restroom to change, wash her face, throw on a little make up and straighten her by then messy mane of hair.

"Should really learn not ta piss off the wrong people," Kate mumbled to herself, while she tried to pull her hair up into a presentable ponytail, holding the elastic between her teeth.

She had gotten the job easily, maybe just a little too easily. When she had shown up to fill out the application, there had been an older man behind the bar who just so happened to be the manager there that day. He wasn't particularly attractive, but that didn't keep Kate from smiling coyly and laughing demurely at all the right times. His name was Jason and he was in his mid-thirties with short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that were always happy and full of life, he was also one of the two owners. The other owner just so happened to be his wife, Jeni, who just so happened to walk in as Kate was leaving, after getting the job and was in the middle of smiling shyly and giggling her thanks.

Unfortunately, Jeni was a very jealous person and could be quite mean when she wanted to. Like knowing for a fact that Kate didn't get out of school until 4 everyday and still scheduling her at 4:30 and then cutting the day waitress early, who of course didn't mind. So Kate would be all by herself for the entirety of her shift, this included weekends too when there should be two waitresses and not just one, but of course Jeni didn't care and would watch her like a hawk, hoping that she'd give her a reason to fire her. As of yet, she had 't given her one. She was their best worker, and Jeni knew it. The fact only served to piss the woman off more however.

The pub wasn't very large, there was a long bar that seated about twenty people and then eight tables spaced throughout the rest of the rectangular space, this still left a decent amount of room for getting around, but there was a catch. With the pub being so popular among soldiers, the four seater tables usually became six or sometimes up to eight seater tables when the spare chairs against the walls were brought into play. Now Kate didn't mind working in a busy environment, she preferred it, otherwise she got bored and would wind up sitting on her butt doing nothing, which she also didn't mind, but being the only waitress in a packed pub was not fun.

She was glad that she at least didn't have to worry about the people sitting at the bar, the bartender could handle them, but she was left with the rest of the restaurant which she now knew as of the last weekend could hold over one hundred people. She didn't know how, but it had and somehow she had survived the night, and made a good deal of money too, so she wasn't complaining. Much. She was pretty sure though that if another man pinched her ass, or even accidentally bumped into her, she might hit them, hard. Flirting was easy for her, being treated like a slab of meat by a drunk soldier was not. Most of the soldiers were extremely well behaved though and the few that weren't were usually taken home early by their friends who wanted to save them from embarrassment.

With her hair now secured in it's elastic, Kate slipped out of her black pants and gray tank top to slide in to her work uniform. A black short skirt and a white, long sleeved button up shirt and of course black heels, she was the only one required to wear the heels, apparently Jeni thought she was too short and needed a boost.

A vein in Kate's forehead throbbed as she remembered the snotty woman telling her she would need to wear heels, she was a little sensitive about her height, she didn't know why, she was of average height for a woman, but she figured it was because she was constantly surrounded by men a good foot taller than her. Sliding on a pair of nylons to make her legs look a bit better and to keep a barrier between her and everyone else, even if it was a small one, it made her feel better, she had also been able to get permission to wear a pair of gloves while she worked, she had a thing about coming into direct contact with people she didn't know and it made her feel more comfortable to have a thin shield of some kind between her and whoever she may touch, purposely or accidentally. The gloves were thin and a nude color so it almost looked as if she weren't wearing any and most people didn't realize she was, but then they tended to be more focused on other things, her legs or chest since her shirt was worn partially unbuttoned.

After quickly applying a light coat of powder and blush to her face and a dusting of simple brown eyeshadow to her eyes, followed by a swipe of mascara, Kate threw all of her stuff back into her bag, ran out of the bathroom to throw her bag into a locker in the kitchen and get to work.

Luckily, the pub was slow until about 6 o'clock or so and at the moment there were only a few people at the bar and a few tables that were already being waited on by the day shift waitress, the black haired, green eyed Trina. She was in her late twenties with perfect creamy skin and a smile that could knock you off your feet, she came from a rich background and didn't really need to work, but she got bored easily and wanted something to do. Instead of finding a hobby, she had decided to wait tables. With nothing better to do since Trina was taking care of her own tables until Jeni showed up to cut her, Kate started straightening everything up and cleaning, it was a Friday and that meant it was going to be a long night and she wouldn't have much time to do anything, including breathe once the crowds started coming and going. Better to be prepared, she figured.

As soon as 5 o'clock hit, Jeni showed up and Trina was cut and sent home. The bartender for the night was Jason, which meant that Jeni would be lounging around the bar and keeping both eyes on Kate and any other woman that dared to so much as look at her husband. The cook for the night was a young man that Kate adored, Leo, he reminded her of an older version of Ed, he had long blonde hair he pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck and gorgeous pale blue eyes. He had a short temper and couldn't stand Jeni, who never went into the kitchen when Leo was working, leaving Kate and him to pick on her and laugh whenever she came to pick up an order. It really helped the two of them get through the nights that never seemed like they were going to end.

It didn't take long after the clock had struck five that blue clad men and the occasional woman started filtering into the pub, the military weren't the only ones to come in, there were a few people dressed in regular clothes that came and went too. Time began to have no meaning as Kate went from table to table and some times back again when someone new would join the groups, taking orders, running orders to tables and checking up on them every few minutes and of course going to bar constantly since many didn't have to work tomorrow and were going to heartily enjoy themselves.

She was cleaning a table that had just been vacated by it's seven occupants when the door creaked open, the noise was lost in the sound of the laughing and chattering that filled every corner of the bar. Five people walked in, all in military blues and seeing the table that Kate was cleaning, made their way towards it.

"Just one second, almost done," Kate said absently, tossing the rag she had used to wipe the table down on to the small round tray she had with her. She didn't bother looking up at the people who were waiting to sit down as she pulled her gloves back on since she had removed them it clean the table. "There you go," Kate chirped, smiling as she picked up her tray and looked up at the five people waiting for the table. "I'll be back to take your order in a minute, menus are on the table," she nodded at the small books that stood in the center of the table before turning around to run to the kitchen and pick up one of three orders that were waiting to be taken out. "Seriously Leo, cook slower," Kate grumbled teasingly, before winking at him and grabbing a large serving tray and piling the plates on before hefting it on to her shoulder and making her way back to the tables.

It didn't take her long to get everything served and as soon as she had returned the large serving tray to the kitchen, she made her way through the crowd to the table she had yet to take orders for. She had to stop once when one of the regulars decided he was going to bug her and take up her time by hitting on her and trying to get her to sit in his lap. With her patience beginning to wear thin, Kate slammed her hands down on the table and smiled at the man, who went quiet at the unexpected gesture.

"I don't remember what the hell your name is, and I really don't care. Look around you, see all those people, they want food and alcohol and they want it now and I can't get it for them if you don't shut up, k," Kate smiled widely again and turned on her heel and walked away, only to feel a vein pop in her forehead when catcalls and whistles followed after her. Apparently being confronted by a woman was something these men weren't used to and since it was new, they liked it. "You've got to be kidding me," she mumbled to herself, wiping a hand over face as she made her way through the crowds. "Sorry about the wait, what can I get you?" Kate asked as she finally got back to the table of five.

They were all military, four of them men and one of them a blonde woman. She recognized the men, she couldn't tell you their names, but they had been in before, the woman she had never seen before. As Kate took the orders of the five, her left eye kept twitching. It seemed that the man she had told off and his friends had decided that they would call her name every five seconds or so and beg her to come back.

"Excuse me," Kate said holding up a finger and smiling sweetly, cutting of the tall blonde man with a cigarette dangling from his lips to spin around, grab an empty plate off the table behind her and chuck it at the group of rowdy men. It hit the man who had been hitting on her square in the forehead before clattering to their table. The entire table then went quiet then as all eyes turned to the man with stars dancing around his head. Taking a deep breath, Kate turned back around and smiled. "Sorry, you wanted whiskey, right, sir?"

The man was staring at her, his mouth agape and his cigarette in danger of falling from his lips. Actually they were all staring at her, except for the woman who was smirking a little and looking at the men with a raised brow seemingly amused by the situation.

Once she got their orders, she disappeared into the crowds, leaving the men at the table she had just left talking about her. A short man with dark and glasses thought she was scary, the blonde man agreed as did the man next to him with grayish tinted hair, the only other man, a bigger man with blonde hair didn't seem to have an opinion. It was while Kate was putting in their orders that another man showed up to join that group. She saw him take a seat at the table and sighed, she'd have to make her rounds quickly and get back there to take the newcomer's order too.

Kate found it slightly amusing that as she came back to the table, the men all went quiet and sat up a little straighter while averting their eyes from her, except for the gentleman that had just joined them anyway, his back was to her and he hadn't yet noticed her.

"Did I miss something," the man that had his back to Kate asked his friends in confusion. "Why'd you all get quiet?"

"I think I might have scared them," Kate answered for them, smiling as the man turned in his seat to look at her.

"Kate?"

Jolting, Kate took a good look at the man in front of her. The black hair, gray eyes and slim, but toned build were all the same, even the air of sadness that she remembered so clearly about him was still there in his eyes. He somehow seemed a bit happier, but that sadness was still clinging to him and it made Kate wonder just what he had gone through to have such a look in his eyes. "Mr Mustang?"

"I thought I told you to call me Roy."

"It's nice to see you again Roy," Kate replied with a smile, rolling her eyes when she heard her name being called by several patrons wanting a refill on their drinks. "Sorry, but I'm a bit busy so what can I get you?"

All in all everything was running smoothly, she was getting food and drinks out quickly and checking up on her tables frequently, it got hectic and hard to handle at times, but she managed. It wasn't until she was once again back at the table of her admirers that she had thrown a plate at that things started going down hill. The man she had hit with the plate, who re-introduced himself to her as Brent, was telling her that he was sorry for being rude, he followed that up with asking her out, which she declined politely before beginning to gather up some of the empty plates and glasses on the table. Brent had decided to try grabbing her hand and beg, but Kate jerked her hand back, unprepared for the touch and knocked over one of the men's drinks, soaking her gloves.

"What happened to you," Leo asked when Kate walked into the kitchen a rather disgusted look on her face as she tugged off her gloves and rinsed them out in the sink.

"Nothing, just spilled a drink," she answered, washing her hands and drying them.

"I never got why you wear those things anyway, your hands are fine, isn't it hard to serve in them," Leo observed.

"No, I'm used to doing stuff with the gloves on. Why I wear them is sort of a long story," Kate replied, setting the gloves aside to dry and inwardly sighing since she didn't have time to dig her black gloves out of her bag. 'Just don't touch anyone,' she thought to herself, repeating it like a chant in her head for the next several minutes as she bustled around the pub.

However, Fate, had other plans for her.

Two new customers showed up, taking a seat at the table that Brent and his friends had just recently vacated. Judging by their similarly colored brown hair and green eyes, they were brothers, one looked to be about twenty and the other a few years older. At first they seemed to be fine, they were minding their own business and not making a lot of noise, but it didn't take long for that to change. When Kate brought their food and drinks to them, the older of the two men grabbed her wrist, which unfortunately wasn't covered since she had pushed her sleeves up her arms.

She let out a quiet cry, her eyes clenching shut as visions of the man who had a hold of her wrist flew through her mind. There was nothing unusual until she saw the man standing over the body of young woman, whether or not that woman was dead Kate didn't know. Jerking her wrist form the man's grasp, the visions stopped and Kate turned to leave, her breathing a bit ragged and not even trying to hide the fact that she was shaken. The man had other plans for her though, he grabbed her elbow before she could leave and tugged her back to their table.

"Leave the girl alone brother," the young man across the table stated pleadingly.

"No, I wanna know why she doesn't want me touching her. Think I'm disgusting or something, think I'm not good enough."

Kate shook her head. "N-no..It's not that it's...please let me go."

"No," the man replied gruffly.

Just as Kate was about to turn and call for Leo, a blue covered arm was placed in front of her, the hand resting on her waist and pushing her back as another hand grabbed the wrist that held her elbow, pushing the pressure point between the bones and eliciting a hiss of pain from the man as his hand was pulled away from Kate. Looking up in shock, Kate saw that it was Roy who had stepped in.

"Is there a problem," he asked authoritatively, his gray eyes locked on the other man's green.

"Yeah there's a problem I was talking to the lady and now you're in the way," the man grunted.

"Yes well I don't particularly like to see pretty young women being man handled by scum like you."

The man at the table stood up, his chair scraping against the wood floor loudly, effectively silencing the entire restaurant.

Kate inwardly groaned, Jeni was watching the whole thing and she knew that this was going to end badly, very badly.

"Uh, hey," Kate cut in, laughing awkwardly. "I'm fine so can you just go and sit back down before you get me fired," Kate hissed at Roy.

"Yeah why don't you go sit down and leave the lady with me, I promise to take good care of her," the man grinned.

"You need to sit down and behave or leave," Kate snapped.

"Ah, a spunky one brother, just the way I like them."

The younger man looked a bit embarrassed and shook his head.

"Is there a problem Kate," Leo asked walking out of the kitchen and wiping his hands on his apron.

"Nope, no problem Leo," Kate replied breaking away from the grasp that Roy still had on her waist and smiling. "Please go sit back down," Kate whispered pleadingly to Roy.

"Kate!"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Kate groaned, her eyes closing as she took a deep breath before turning around to see Jeni stomping her way towards her.

"Who's your boyfriend and why is he assaulting my customers," she barked, her hands on her slightly plump hips and her overly eye shadowed eyes narrowed.

"He's not-"

"Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, ma'am it's a-"

"I don't care what your rank is, how dare you assault my customers!" Jeni cut in while Kate glared at Roy.

"The gentleman was being rather rough with your waitress and I-"

"It's her job, if she can't handle it, she should find a new one!"

"Nope, I'm good. Back to your seat Roy," she said, pushing Roy back towards his table and smiling at Jeni.

"No, there's no reason why you should be treated like that regardless of what your job is."

"I'm fine," she replied, holding her hands out in front of her as if to somehow prove her point. "Eh..." She chuckled when she saw that there was a small bruise forming where the man had grabbed her wrist.

"And you think it's alright for your staff to be treated that way," Roy said pointedly to Jeni.

"You're right," Jeni stated. "I apologize for letting this happen, to make sure it doesn't happen again...You're fired," she said, looking straight at Kate.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Kate cried, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Hey why don't we all just relax," Leo said, walking to Kate while sending dirty looks in Roy's direction. "Kate's the best waitress we've got Jeni, you should really think this over, after all, she didn't do anything wrong."

"Her boyfriend assaulted a customer, that's enough of a reason," Jeni sniffed.

"He's not my boyfriend, he's not even really a friend, I barely know him!"

"Somehow I doubt that would stop you," Jeni snorted snidely.

"What exactly are trying to say Jeni," Kate challenged.

"Nothing at all, I just thought that whores were less picky."

"Hey now that was uncalled-"

"Oh shut up Roy, if I'm getting fired then I'm going to make the most of it and since it's your damn fault, you should get out of the way," Kate snapped.

Seeing the look in Kate's eyes, Roy stepped aside and Kate let her fist fly. All anyone could do was watch as Kate's fist slammed into Jeni's cheek and the surprised woman stumbled backwards, into the arms of the very man that had grabbed Kate and who willingly let Jeni sit in his lap.

Leo grabbed Kate's shoulder to try and calm her, but in only served to piss her off more.

"Would everyone keep their damn hands to themselves," she yelled, shaking his hand from her shoulder and storming to the kitchen where she retrieved her bag, slung it over her shoulder and then made her way through the restaurant, stopping briefly by Leo who looked a little stunned at having had her yell at him. "Sorry for snapping at you, I have a thing with being touched, don't take it personally. Maybe I'll see you around Leo, it was nice working with you."

"You too, and we'll see each other around, it's a promise," Leo replied with a grin.

"Bye Leo," she said with a small wave.

The pub had gone back to being loud and rowdy as if nothing had happened as Kate made her way outside where she dropped her bag and plunked herself down on a bench in front of the noisy building. Sighing, she pulled her hair from its ponytail, combing her fingers through it and then putting her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands.

She heard the door to the pub, the noise momentarily heightening. The bench shifted as someone sat down on the opposite end. Scowling, Kate turned her head just enough to see that it was Roy, his arms folded over his chest and one leg crossed over the air as he stared off into the night with an unreadable expression on his face.

"What do you want Mustang," she asked bitterly.

"Why are you angry at me, you probably could have worked things out with the help of that Leo friend of yours, if you hadn't hit your boss anyway," he told her amusedly.

"She deserved it," Kate mumbled.

"She really didn't like you, did she?"

"No, but that's what I get for flirting with her husband to get the job," she replied sarcastically.

Roy laughed and Kate grunted in annoyance, turning her head away stubbornly. Silence descended over them then, Kate being more than okay with ignoring the man's presence and Roy staring thoughtfully into the night.

"Those gloves, you wear them for a reason I'm assuming," Roy said finally.

Choosing to continue ignoring him since it was none of his business, Kate grabbed her bag and stood up to walk home.

"After you took the gloves off, you become more tense and you'd get defensive if anyone tried to touch you or came close to you. When that man grabbed you and actually touched your skin, you became rigid and your eyes closed as if you were in pain, when you re-opened them you seemed scared of something. I may not know you well, but you don't seem like the easily frightened type, especially since my men are scared of you because you threw a plate at a guy's head without hesitation."

Kate had stopped walking, she was only a few steps from the bench, her back to Roy and her hands clenched at her sides as she looked straight ahead of her. "What's your point," she asked blandly.

"Why do you wear those gloves and just what scared you," Roy questioned seriously.

"It's none of your business. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go home and get some sleep since I apparently need to find a new job tomorrow."

"I could help with that."

"No thanks, you've done enough."

"You're quite stubborn aren't you," Roy sighed, standing from the bench to walk after her.

"What are you doing," she snapped when the black haired man fell into step beside her.

"Walking you home," he replied casually.

"I can take care of myself."

"I'll leave you alone if you shake my hand, without the gloves."

Kate came to an abrupt halt, her eyes widening in surprise. Masking her surprise and discomfort with the ultimatum, Kate stuck her hand out, she was still not wearing any gloves, having not bothered to dig them out of her bag.

Watching her closely, Roy raised his own hand and clasped it around hers firmly. Nothing seemed to happen, except a slight tensing of her muscles and a flicker in her eyes as if she were in pain.

"Can I go now," Kate asked when her hand was released.

Roy frowned, but nodded and watched her as she began walking again. Her steps faltered no more than ten paces away and she turned back to him with a small smile.

"Thank you, for sticking up for me in there," she said sincerely, but then she hesitated, her smile dropping as she fidgeted. "Following orders doesn't make you a murderer, it makes the ones giving the orders murderers...and cowards. In a war you have little choice, you either kill as you were told to do, or you die. You may not think you're a hero, but the men you kept alive, the men you protected regardless of what it meant would happen to you, think you are. So do their families, so do I. If it weren't for your skill as the Flame Alchemist, many more men would have died. You can't hate yourself forever... uh, sorry...goodnight Roy."

Stunned by her words all Roy could do was stare after her as she once again began to walk away from him. He couldn't think of anything to say as he stared at her slowly disappearing back, he was too busy trying to put her words together and make sense of them. When he couldn't, he took off after Kate, calling her name to get her attention.

When Kate turned to see why he was calling after her, she was a little surprised by the intensity of his gaze.

"How did you know that I was the Flame Alchemist?"

Kate's eyes widened and she had no idea how to reply. "I-I overheard some of the soldiers-"

"You're lying," he accused. "Ishbal. That's what you were talking about, my time in Ishbal, wasn't it?"

Swallowing, Kate nodded reluctantly.

"How did you know all of that," he asked roughly.

"..I saw it."

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Thank you to.....XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX, , Miyuki Meiru, Kunoichi of Havok, Princesa de la Luna and Sybil Corvax for reviewing...cream cheese frosted brownies for you!

Please review, I really want to know what everyone thinks and flames are unwelcome, they'll be used to warm the house, constructive criticism is welcome though. Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

Don't expect such quick and frequent updates much longer, I only have this story planned out for a few more chapters, then..nothing....so yeah.

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**Chapter 4**

**The Answer is Always Simple**

_-SNAP-_

_Another wall of flame tore through a seemingly deserted stretch of a sandy street in an Ishbalan slum. The red and orange of the flames burnt everything in their path, leaving the buildings smoking and the street free of any debris that might have littered it moments before. _

_A small cry of pain, the thudding of feet retreating from their hiding places in the crevices and side alleys..._

_-SNAP-_

_Cries of pain as the retreating dark skinned men were engulfed in flames. The smell of burnt flesh and hair permeated the air like a perfume and the shouts of agony slowly began to quiet, leaving only the sound of the desert winds sighing through the mostly destroyed and deserted town and of course the sounds of gunfire and explosions in the distance that served as the only music on this blood drenched battlefield. _

_A group of soldiers in dirty and bloodstained uniforms stand in the center of the now deserted street. All of them hold guns in their hands, all but one. The one standing at the head of their formation. A black haired, gray eyed man with white gloves on his hands, the right one of which has a strange red circle inscribed on it. It's this hand that the man raises when he hears the rushing footsteps and angered shout from the small, dark alley to the group's left._

_-SNAP-_

_Screams fill the air once again as the smell of burnt flesh which has become all to familiar invades the senses of the soldiers in blue once again._

_Several more men run from their hiding places to attack the group of soldiers. Gunshots ring through the street, making it impossible to hear the snap as the oxygen in the air begins to change and then explode in a bright display of flames. The attackers fall, their skin burnt and smoking and their breaths little more than wheezes. One is still conscious despite the pain of his molten flesh and it's this one that recognizes what the man with black hair is now that he stands over him, his gloved right hand raised slightly and to his side._

"_An.. alchemist...b-but I tho-thought that alchemy was a skill t-to be used for the p-p-eople," he manages to stutter out through his sharp breaths._

_The black haired man doesn't respond, simply rubs his fingers together. A small spark is created by the friction-_

_-SNAP-_

_and then everything is burning....._

_The man lowers his hand to his side where it clenches into a tight fist, his head lowers just a bit as he stares at the ground in front of him. His gray eyes that had once been so full of life, hope and strength are now lined with bruises from lack of sleep and there's now a darker look there, the look of a man who believes himself to be a murderer and nothing more._

"_Lets go," he orders, his head rising once again as he once again begin trekking through the street._

_What he doesn't notice, this now battle hardened soldier, is that the men in the group following him, don't think of him as a murderer or senseless killer. They think of him as their hero, without him looking out for them many more would have died. He watched out for the men he was in charge of, helping them when they needed, saving many of them from a gruesome death and it was something none of them would ever forget. _

_

* * *

_

"_Your eyes have a different look in them now Roy."_

"_Do they? So do yours. They're the eyes of a killer."_

"_..Yeah."_

"_Hughes, why are you fighting?"_

"_Simple. I don't want to die. The answer is always simple Roy."_

_

* * *

_

_Several soldiers were gathered around a small fire, drinking coffee or snacking on some small meal. They all wore the looks of people who didn't want to be in this situation, surrounded by death and destruction, but knew they had no choice. There was one man who didn't seem to care either way, a State Alchemist with dark hair that was pulled into a ponytail and a mug of coffee in his hands._

"_Why did it turn out this way," Roy asked aloud, examining the inscribed glove he was holding in his hands._

"_Why? Because that is the job of a State Alchemist," the man in the ponytail replied casually sipping the coffee in his hand as if he were sitting in a comfortable coffee shop instead of a war ravaged city._

"_But why are soldiers who should be protecting citizens, murdering them," a young blonde woman asked, her face reflecting the horrors she had seen._

"_Because that was the task assigned to us," the same ponytailed man answered. "Am I wrong," he asked when he saw the way the woman frowned and Roy, a few seats away from her shook his head._

"_So are you saying we should accept this brutality," Roy questioned, his gray eyes narrowed as he stared at the glove he was turning over in his hands._

"_You can't accept it as your job?" The man responded before looking to another soldier. "You?"_

_The soldier he was looking at chuckled, but it was an empty sound, hollow. "If we could, we wouldn't be talking about this kind of thing, would we?"_

"_True I suppose, but...The young lady there," the man said, pointing to the blonde woman who looked up in slight surprise. "I'm doing this unwillingly. That is what your face is telling me, am I right?"_

"_..Yes. Killing is not enjoyable after all," she replied._

"_Really, interesting," he mused. "Do you mean to tell me, Ms Sniper, that when you defeat an enemy you don't think "Yes, alright I did it!" and then have pride in the fact that you did? Is there not a moment where you feel a sense of achievement in your work?"_

"_That's enough," Roy interrupted, standing and staring challengingly down at the man who looked over at him as if he was nothing more than a fly on the wall._

"_You are the ones I can't understand. You're trying to find justice in a battlefield. How naïve. Is it heretical to kill with alchemy? Is it better to kill with a gun? Killing is killing anyway you look at it. Was it that you came here prepared to kill one or two, but can't bare killing thousands? When you put on that uniform you should have been prepared to take lives or you shouldn't have put it on in the first place. If you can't stand death and are only going to take pity on yourself and play the victim, then you shouldn't have joined the military. Let me give a little word of advice," the man said quietly a strange glint in his eyes as if he were enjoying every second of this conversation as the faces around him turned down in horror and shock. "Don't avert your eyes from death. Look forward. Look at the people you are killing in the eyes and don't forget them, they won't forget you."_

* * *

"_The answer is always simple Roy_..."

* * *

"You saw it," Roy questioned skeptically after several seconds of a rather tense silence in which Kate just stared at him with curious golden eyes to try and gauge his reaction to her statement.

"Yes," Kate answered evenly, all signs of the hesitance and nervousness that were gnawing at her, hidden beneath a mask of confidence.

"Care to elaborate?"

Kate lifted a brow at him and smirked. "You're a smart man Lieutenant Colonel Mustang, you noticed the gloves and the way my attitude and posture changed without them, don't tell me you haven't already figured it out," she challenged cockily.

The tense atmosphere faded and Roy returned her smirk. "By coming into direct contact with someone you're able to see...What exactly _do_ you see?"

"It varies really," she replied truthfully with a shrug of a shoulder. "I've never seen a person's future, only their pasts or portions of them and it can range from meaningless images to..." Kate trailed off and fidgeted uncomfortably. "To things much more horrible, things that have given me nightmares for months on end. I wear the gloves because I can't exactly control when I'll see something or who I'll be touching. There have been times I've been able to will myself to see things, certain parts of people's pasts, but this only seems to work with people I'm close to. My brothers, my mom and dad, but I only did that a few times and it was because I felt it necessary, or I wanted to know where my brothers had stashed my books they liked to steal."

"What about the man that grabbed you, what did you see then?"

"Mostly just a bunch of blurry images, the only clear one was of a young woman, whether she was dead or alive though, I don't know and whether that man had anything to do with the state she was in, I also don't know," she answered, she was curious about why he hadn't asked her about what she had seen when she had shaken his hand. It made her wonder why he wasn't asking her, he had to be curious after what she had said to him.

"Have dinner with me," Roy asked suddenly.

Startled by the abrupt question, Kate looked up at the black haired man in front of her and blinked. "Uh, what?"

"Have dinner with me," he repeated.

"Why," Kate asked, sounding a bit more curt than she had meant to, she was just caught off guard by the rather random and unexpected question.

Roy smiled charmingly at her and her brow arched suspiciously. "I got you fired, it's the least I could do."

With her brow still raised, Kate studied Roy curiously, wondering just what he was up to because she highly doubted that he was asking her to dinner to repay her for getting her fired. "Alright. When?"

"Right now."

"Now," she asked incredulously.

"Yes, now. Is that a problem?"

"Are you serious? I stink of booze and cigarette smoke, I'm sweaty and dirty and I'm in clothes that are saturated with all of the above," she replied. "I'm not going anywhere without a shower and a change of clothes."

"Then I'll walk you home and wait for you while you get ready," Roy offered, smiling a very alluring and self-assured smile at her.

Kate stared at him for a few seconds, thinking that he had to be joking. Why go through so much trouble when they could schedule the dinner for another night? When it became obvious that he was quite serious and that he was going to lay on the charm until she agreed, she rolled her eyes and sighed, turning away from him with a shake of her head and walking towards her apartment.

"You coming or not," she called over her shoulder when there was no sound or movement from behind her.

She smirked when he laughed at her and playfully glared at him as he caught up to her, his hands in his pockets and an arrogant look on his face.

"Couldn't resist me, could you," he stated smugly.

"Actually, I just felt really bad. Mr Hughes did say your luck with the ladies wasn't very good and I couldn't very well leave you standing on the sidewalk all by yourself on a Friday night now could I? Besides, I haven't had a chance to see much of the city and a little girl like me shouldn't wander around by herself, now should she?"

"I said dinner not that I'd take you an a tour," Roy grumbled, scratching at the side of his head distractedly.

"You'll find I can be quite manipulative when I want to be, so don't count that out just yet. And you owe me, you got me fired, remember? Now what'll I do," she sighed dramatically, her shoulders drooping. "I have two brothers to support and feed, an apartment to pay for, and school too..I might have to drop out of school and go back home. I'm sure that I can find a job there, maybe I can-"

"Alright, I'll take you on a tour of the town, jeez," he sighed, running a hand through his hair and casting a small glare at Kate, who winked and smirked.

"I know, just couldn't resist me, could you," she teased. "Bet you wish you'd kept that chivalrous side of yours to yourself, eh? Come on, my apartment's in here," she said, gesturing to the building to their right. "I'm warning you now, my place is very small and it's also a bit of a mess," she told him as they walked into the building, stopping for a moment so that Kate could check her mailbox.

"I don't mind, you should see my place," Roy chuckled earnestly.

"Can I ask you something," Kate asked seriously, shifting her things so that she could unlock her door.

Glancing at what he could see of her face, Roy frowned, the look in her slightly narrowed eyes told him that despite her cheery demeanor a moment ago what she had seen when she touched him was still very much on her mind. He wasn't sure how much she had seen of his time in Ishbal, but he knew that didn't matter. There were no good memories for him in that time, he still had nightmares of his time there, still saw the faces of the dead and could smell the burnt and decaying flesh of the people he had killed. If it still haunted him, a soldier who should be accustomed to death, he had no doubt that the innocent looking girl in front of him was probably shaken very badly by the sight of so much death and destruction, he wondered just what she thought of him for what he had done. She had said he was a hero, but he didn't think so and he somehow didn't think she believed it either.

"Go ahead," Roy finally answered.

"You're probably wondering just how much I saw," she began, glancing at him to see how he would react, when he didn't do anything, she continued, "To be honest it wasn't much, just bits and pieces of things and lots of dead bodies since that seems to be what sticks out most in your mind. If you hated doing what you did so much, why are you still in the military? Why do you continue to serve the people who made you kill thousands of people unwillingly?"

Setting her things down on the table before daring to look up at Roy, Kate was surprised to see a small smile on the man's face.

"Because I joined the military to help people and that's precisely what I intend to do."

"How?"

"By making my way to the top."

"And just how far are you willing to go to get there," Kate asked, thoroughly intrigued by the man in front of her.

"Simple. Whatever it takes," Roy answered, the smile still in place.

She nodded her head a few times then smiled, shaking her head with a chuckle. "You're one interesting man Roy Mustang, I'll give you that. Anyways, have a seat," she said waving her hand at a chair on the other side of the table. "I've got some mail I'd like to read before taking a shower, hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, take your time. I've got all night."

Kate rolled her eyes as Roy made himself comfortable in one of the four chairs at the table, she took a seat as well, opening a letter and pulling out the contents with a smile that faded as she read.

"Something wrong," Roy asked when she put the letter down with a sigh.

She shook her head. "No, not really. My brothers seem to have found themselves someone willing to teach them alchemy, so they're leaving for Dublith, well I guess they've already left seeing as how this is dated three days ago. I had plans to go back for the next weekend, I haven't seen them in two months, but it seems there's no point since they won't be there. I'm just a little disappointed is all, but happy for them at the same time. Ed has a lot of skill with alchemy, Al isn't too bad either, he's more detail oriented than Ed is. It doesn't say how long they'll be gone, just that they probably won't have time to write very often."

"Your brothers mean a lot to you, don't they?"

"It's that obvious, huh?"

"Well you did almost fall out of a train trying to get that necklace from one of them and then started crying like a baby once you had it," Roy replied with a hint of playful sarcasm.

Looking down at the locket that was dangling from her neck Kate smiled. "They're the only family I have left now really and I plan on taking the best care of them that I can, whatever it takes. It's been hard though, I left only two weeks after our mom passed and I've been really worried about them, they would sit by her grave for hours on end and the looks on their faces were so sad..." Kate chuckled, wiping at her eyes as she quickly stood up. "Sorry, I'm being depressing. I'll go and get ready, I won't be long."

Watching her as she walked to the bathroom, Roy couldn't help but notice that her eyes were full of sadness and loneliness. It was obvious to him that she had never bothered to mourn her mother's death, instead she had focused only on her brothers and their well being. "You know," he called after her, making her pause to look back at him. "It's all right to grieve, you're allowed to. You don't always have to be the big sister and never show weakness, you're not a super hero."

Staring blankly at him for a moment, Kate didn't know what to say. She barely knew the man that was sitting at her table, but somehow she felt she could trust him and that he was a truly good person. "Thanks," she said before going into her bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

* * *

When she walked out of the bathroom a half hour later, she was dressed in a pair of black slacks, a black and silver long sleeved, low cut top, and black gloves. Her hair was left down and she had put on a little bit of make up, and of course her locket glittered from where it rested on her chest.

"Sorry for making you wait," she said apologetically, making her way to the table to slide her feet into her black heels and grab her coat from the back of the chair where she usually left it. It was a simple black peacoat with large buttons and a very soft inner lining. "What?" she asked, when she thought he looked somewhat disappointed.

"It's nothing, sorry," he replied dismissively, waving a hand in the air for good measure, but the slightly disappointed look didn't fade.

"I don't believe you, what's wrong," she asked, feeling like she might have done something to offend him somehow. She may have only known him for a matter of hours, but there was something about him that drew her to him.

"It's just... you looked really good in that skirt."

Kate deadpanned and she had to resist a very strong urge to smack him upside the head. "Lets go," she said instead, turning away from him to walk to the door.

"You asked," he shrugged.

"Yeah, I didn't think I'd get some kind of perverted answer, now get out of my apartment," Kate ordered, gesturing at the door.

"No need to be so mean, it was a compliment you know."

"You think that was a compliment, you've gotta be kidding me," she grumbled in annoyance.

"You have nice legs, is that better?"

"Why did I agree to go to dinner with you again," Kate asked.

"Simple really. Because you couldn't resist my charm and alluring personality," he answered, smiling widely at her, his eyes sparkling mischievously. "Are you done babbling yet, I'm hungry."

"Is it too late to say I have to wash my hair so I can't go?"

"Yup, especially since you already washed your hair."

"Damn," she mumbled, locking her door only to turn around and see that Roy was holding an arm out for her to take. "So you're a pervert and a gentlemen," she said wryly.

"I am not pervert, there is nothing wrong with appreciating a woman's looks," he replied. "I think you're attractive, what's perverted about that?"

"The fact that you chose to tell me so by commenting on the fact that I wasn't wearing a short skirt and looking so disappointed over it."

"I was being honest."

"You were being a pervert," Kate retorted.

"What, like you haven't thought about what I'd look like without a shirt on."

"I haven't actually, I've known you for what, three hours?" Kate replied, chastising herself when she looked over at him only to notice that he did seem to be nicely toned underneath his uniform, especially if his arm was any indication about the muscle tone in the rest of his body.

"But you're thinking about it now," he said with a sly smirk.

"I was not," Kate protested knowing full well that she was blushing and cursing herself for being so gullible.

"Nice image, isn't it?"

"How full of yourself are you?"

"Very."

"I noticed."

"You too."

Kate snorted. "So I think I'm kind of pretty, sue me."

"Not just kind of," Roy said.

Unable to help it, Kate blushed and looked away from the gray eyes that were watching her. She wasn't used to such flattery and it made her feel awkward. "Shut up and feed the girl you got fired already," she mumbled lamely.

* * *

Thank you- .Sonata, Kairi0403, XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX, Miyuki Meiru and HeeHeeHee01 for reveiwing the last chapter, all I have to offer you this time is my thanks though, no brownies..sorry..I ate them all.

If it seems like this is moving too quickly, I promise you it's only because Roy's a womanizer. Well sort of, but it won't be like this long, romance takes time and I don't intended to rush Roy and Kate along.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**A Job Offer**

"So explain this to me," Roy said, taking a sip of the scotch in front of him and eyeing Kate curiously. "How is it that you can see people's pasts by touching them?"

"Don't know really," she replied, crossing her legs under the table they were seated at in a dimly lit restaurant. They were seated in a corner, far away from the few other patrons of the restaurant who all looked to be businessmen with some sort of hidden agenda as they whispered amongst themselves and drank the high priced liquor from the bar. Kate was drinking a glass of red wine, holding the thin neck of the glass daintily with her fingers as she stared over the rim at Roy. "I just can."

"Interesting."

"Is it? I always thought it was kind of annoying. I'm a freak and I don't know why," Kate stated blandly.

"I don't think you're a freak at all," Roy replied.

"Oh," Kate mused, taking another sip of her wine before setting the glass down and leaning forward to fold her arms over the table, propping one up so that she could rest her chin in her palm. "Did you ask me to dinner just to interrogate me about my ability to see people's pasts, not that I mind, I'm a fairly open person if you haven't noticed. Ask me whatever you want, I only have one condition."

Roy's eyebrows rose, partly from amusement and partly out of curiosity. "And what's that?"

"That you tell me the truth," she answered almost harshly.

"The truth," he seemed fairly confused by her statement and set his drink down to look her in the eyes.

"Why are you so interested in the fact that I can see people's pasts?"

"It's a rare ability."

"Very, but that doesn't answer my question."

"You're a bit scary, you know that," Roy sighed, leaning back in his chair to fold his arms over his chest. "I was just thinking how useful a skill like the one you have could be."

Kate's eyes darkened and her entire demeanor changed in a split second. "Whatever it takes, huh?" she repeated his words from earlier in the evening, pushing her chair back to stand up and grab her coat from the back of her chair. "I won't be exploited like some carnival freak show, excuse me."

"You're jumping to conclusions, you asked for the truth and I gave it to you," Roy said as she turned to walk away. "I don't have any intentions of exploiting you, you're special, that's true, but you're still human and deserve to be treated as such. However, I would like to offer you a job, you can either accept or decline, it's your choice."

Pausing, Kate turned to look at him through narrowed eyes. He was casually sitting in his chair, acting as if her actions didn't bother him in the least and it annoyed her. "So you're saying that you'll let me choose whether to be used or not," she asked bitterly. "Thanks, but I'll choose not."

"Why not hear me out Kay," he replied.

Twitching at his use of her nickname, Kate found it hard not to just smack the man senseless where he sat. The arrogant way he was holding himself as she glared at him, only made her angrier and with a small growl, she turned on her heel and walked off, muttering to herself angrily.

"Aw, did you get ditched Roy," a red haired woman cooed, prancing her way to the table Kate had just vacated to drape herself over Roy who sighed and detached himself from the woman's arms.

"I'll be right back," he said, standing up to follow after Kate who was already outside stalking down the sidewalk. "Hey, wait a sec would you," he called after her, jogging to her side.

Ignoring him, Kate continued her trek, a scowl on her face and her hands fisted at her sides.

"I don't plan on using you, alright, the idea is tempting you have to admit that much. You could help a lot of people and-"

"Yeah, you're right I could help a lot of people Mustang," she snapped, coming to a halt and facing him. "But who would believe a little girl can see people's pasts by touching them? Who would actually believe me if I told them that some man murdered someone? No one. On top of that, you have no idea what it's like to see those kinds of things."

Stopping abruptly at her outburst, his eyes widening slightly, he took a moment to gather himself, but before he could respond, he was surprised to notice that there were tears in her eyes and she was shaking. Blinking several times to be sure he was seeing things correctly, he sighed and raised a hand to rub at his temple. He had obviously dug up some bad memories.

"You're wrong you know," he finally said, startling Kate who swallowed heavily and waited for him to explain himself. "_I_ would believe you and I do know what it's like to see the faces of the dead staring at you or don't you remember what you saw when you touched me?"

Her eyes widened and her breath hitched in her throat. "Why do you want me to work for you?"

"I need skilled people I can trust to help me achieve my goals."

"And what would I get in return?"

"The chance to make a difference and for what it's worth, my protection, as long as you don't have a problem protecting those below you," he replied.

"Those below me," Kate asked, uncertain of his meaning.

"Anyone really," he shrugged. "Those who can't protect themselves."

"Would I have to join the military or just work for it? Because to be honest, I'm not too fond of the idea of being under someone else's control. If it weren't for the way they're used, I'd think about becoming a State Alchemist, but-"

"You can perform alchemy," Roy cut in.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask," she shrugged. "And I've known you how long?"

Running a hand over his face and shaking his head, Roy sighed. "You wouldn't have to join the military, it would be better if you didn't anyways."

"No one can steal me away, right? Because I'm not an enlisted member," Kate said.

He nodded. "Right, if anything I'd just be forced to fire you, but you would be under my direct control, not anyone else's."

"You barely know me, what makes you think you can trust me?"

"Your eyes."

"My eyes? Sounds a little cheesy," Kate replied.

Roy chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I guess it does it. I just mean that your eyes are telling me that you're telling the truth."

"I see," she replied slowly. "And how do I know if I can trust you or not?"

"You'll just have to trust me. I want to make a difference, I can't do that without good people supporting."

"So are you saying you want my help," Kate inquired, smirking at him and folding her arms over her chest.

"Something like that," he answered noncommittally. "Come on, the food should be up by now," he said holding a hand out to her.

She stared at the offered hand for a moment before pulling her gloves off and holding her hands up. "I'm trusting you, I have no idea why or what I'm getting myself into, but oh well, don't disappoint me," she said and then took the hand that was still held out to her.

"What," Roy asked curiously when Kate snorted to herself and pursed her lips together before turning her head in the opposite direction, her shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Nothing," she squeaked barely able to control her laughter.

"What the hell is so funny," he demanded when she continued to laugh to herself.

Taking a deep breath and clearing her throat, Kate replied, "You've always been pretty arrogant haven't you? Even when you tripped and fell on your face in front of the girl you liked in grade school, you still managed to get up and make it seem like it never happened only to have her laugh in your face. Poor Roy, you really aren't very good with the ladies are you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Roy sniffed pompously, stubbornly sticking his chin in the air as he led her back to their table, with her giggling the entire time.

* * *

Looking at the clock for the hundredth time, Kate let out and an exasperated sigh, uncrossing her legs only to re-cross them not ten seconds later, she had to resist the urge to snap at the receptionist that was looking at her with what she thought was aggravation since she was fidgeting in her seat so much. She had been there for an hour already and there was still no sign of the man that had told her to meet him there, the receptionist didn't even know anything about her coming so she was forced to sit in the waiting area and, well, wait.

Being that it was Monday, she should have been in class, but she had come to the military headquarters instead. Her first class was about to start and though it was simple enough and she could just get the classwork later when she went to her next few classes, she didn't like missing her lessons. As it was, if she were to start working during the week, she would have to rearrange her schedule at the college and switch to later classes and try to jam more into one day, which didn't particularly sound fun.

When she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, Kate looked up to see that the woman behind the desk had looked up also and had her head turned towards the person approaching. It turned out to be none other than Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang himself, but instead of turning his attention to Kate who had stood up when she saw the familiar black hair, he walked up to the desk and leaned casually against it to smile charmingly at the receptionist who swooned and looked as if she would faint.

Pulling one of her gloves from her hand, Kate reached into a side compartment of the small purse she had with her. Grunting when she pulled out a small piece of white chalk, she knelt in the center of the room and looked around, shrugging she drew two circles, one inside the other before drawing a triangle in the inner circle and putting a few runes around the circle as well. Setting the chalk aside, she slammed her hands down on the tile.

Upon hearing the sound of Kate's hands coming into contact with the tile, Roy spun around only to see that Kate was grinning a rather vicious smile at him as the familiar blue light that usually accompanied a transmutation, flashed through the room.

He didn't have time to react as the tile between them became less solid and more fluid, several vine like objects sprouted from the tile, wrapping around his ankles to heft him off his feet, with a yelp, lift him from the ground so that he was dangling, upside a few feet off the ground.

"You do realize you just attacked a military officer, right," Roy inquired as Kate stood up and dusted off her hands, smiling proudly to herself.

"And you realize that you've had me waiting here for over an hour, right," Kate shot back, ignoring the obvious displeased and not amused look on Roy's face. "And after making me wait for an hour _and_ miss school, you ignore me and flirt with the receptionist. Sorry, but I'm a little pissed off at the moment."

Walking towards where Roy was dangling from the tree like mix of tile and stone, Kate had to repress a smirk when he tried to fold his arms over his chest and look mad, but with the tails of his uniform falling into his face he just looked like an idiot.

"I suggest you let me down before this situation turns ugly," Roy stated when the sound of footsteps began to echo through the same hall he had come from a few moments ago.

"But you look so cute and helpless," she replied, her voice dripping with fake sweetness and a mocking smile twisting the corners of her lips.

"You know I like jealous women, but this is a little much," Roy said, with a smirk of his own.

"Excuse me," Kate countered, placing her hands on her hips to look at the upside man with disdain.

"I can understand that you're jealous Kay, but it was only polite conversation, there's no need to overreact. I'm a one woman man and-"

"Oh shut up you perverted womanizer," Kate shouted just as four men and one woman ran into the room, their gazes going from Roy to Kate and back again. Kate recognized them as the same group that had been at the bar the night Roy had gotten her fired, yes Roy had gotten her fired, she figured she was already fired before hitting Jeni so that didn't matter.

"Um, what happened," the tall blonde asked, scratching at his head in obvious confusion at the situation.

"Does it matter Havoc, just get me down," Roy ordered.

"Leave him," the woman called out blandly.

"Hawkeye," Roy growled.

Ignoring Roy's shouts and grumbles, the woman shook her head and walked over to Kate. "Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye," she said holding her hand out to Kate.

"Kate Elric," she replied, briefly shaking the woman's hand. "As I'm sure you remember, the buffoon over there got me fired two nights ago and I'm here because he told me to be here at eight a.m so that he could help me get a job. It's now a quarter after nine and he finally showed up, but only to flirt with the girl behind the desk and ignore me."

"I see," Riza said, turning to look pointedly at Roy who dropped the angry act and chuckled nervously. "Why don't you come with me then, we'll leave the boys to handle this."

"Sounds good to me," Kate agreed.

* * *

Kate and Riza were sipping at the flavorless coffee that the East City's military headquarters was known for and chatting amicably about nothing in particular when the door to the office they were in flew open and crashed loudly into the wall. Both women looked up at Roy who was glaring at the both of them and looking a bit pissed off before they turned back to their conversation and ignored him.

"You had better explain yourself before I make toast out of you," Roy snapped, stomping his way over to where Kate was sitting. He regretted his words almost instantly when he saw her flinch away from him as if he really had burned her, but all he had done was brought back the images of burnt corpses she had seen when she had shaken his hand.

"What is there to explain," she retorted, brushing off the images that were brought to the forefront of her mind and glaring at Roy. "You told me to be here at eight a.m, you didn't bother showing up until after nine and then you decided to flirt with the receptionist and act as if I wasn't even there, which I know you knew I was. You deserved what you got."

"She has a point," Riza commented, closing her eyes as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Oh, who asked you," Roy grumbled, walking to the solitary wooden desk that was reserved for him in the back of the room, in front of a wall that was dominated by a window that overlooked the small square in front of the building. "You'll need to fix the damage you've done before you can leave."

"You're an alchemist, fix it yourself," Kate replied snappishly, setting her mug down on the table that was lined up in front of Roy's desk with several chairs spaced around it.

"As you should have noticed, that's not my specialty," Roy said calmly, glancing up at Kate who had turned her eyes away.

"Your specialty isn't what you think it is," she stated quietly.

Both Roy and Riza looked at her, their eyes wide as they stared at her face which was pulled down by sadness, but that was gone an instant later as she chuckled and smiled.

"So about this job you want me to do for you," she said. "What exactly is it?"

A small smile found it's way to Roy's face as he took a seat in his chair and clasped his hands over his desk. "I need help with paperwork."

Kate raised a brow at him. "But I'm not classified to be helping with that."

"You work for the military now, of course you are."

"You're going to put me in a position where I'll be seeing things no civilian should. I'm not an idiot, that isn't a good position to be in. It could get me killed, after all, the government isn't nearly as innocent as they'd like us civilians to think."

"You're right. I'm putting you in a bad spot, but I promise you that as long as you are working for me and even if you're not, I will protect you, with my life if that's what it takes," Roy replied seriously.

Her golden eyes narrowing in her pale face, Kate studied Roy for several long moments until she finally sighed and ran a hand through her brown hair and scratched at the back of her head. "I already said I'd trust you, so I'll trust you, but I won't hesitate to betray you if I find you're not the man I'm hoping you are. I don't know what you plan on doing and honestly, I don't really want to know, I'll be the ignorant one in your group and help you because I want to help people just like you said you do."

"Then it's settled, you work for me," Roy told her, smiling at her as he leaned back in his chair. "We'll get you a uniform and you can start immediately by fixing the damage to the reception area."

"Fine, but I don't work for the military so I refuse to wear the uniform," Kate replied snidely.

"Oh really," Roy challenged playfully. "If you don't wear the uniform, then I'll require that you wear a miniskirt and, well to be honest I don't care what type of top."

"How do you stand working for this pervert," Kate asked Riza.

"You get used to it," Riza replied. "Do you know how to use a gun by chance?"

"Actually no, I don't. I should learn though I suppose."

"I'll teach you, it's simple and it comes in quite handy sometimes," Riza finished by looking over to Roy who was ignoring their conversation and instead playing with some paperclips as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"I'm sure it does," Kate chuckled following her gaze.

Noticing he was apparently the center of attention, Roy looked up blankly. "What?"

"Nothing," both women said together.

"Right," he said slowly, a little disconcerted by the glint in Riza's eyes and the smirk on Kate's face.

"Anyways, I'll go fix the tile, but then I have to get to class. I'll see what I can do about rearranging my schedule today so I can work and still go to class, I assume that's not a problem," Kate asked Roy.

"No, you can have two weekdays off, take your pick and do what you need to do. The rest of the week though, be here at eight. This week, you can have today and tomorrow off, so I guess I'll be seeing you Wednesday Ms Secretary," Roy replied, grinning.

If only she knew then what she was getting herself into...

* * *

Thank yous go out to.... XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX, HeeHeeHee01, Miyuki Meiru, Kunoichi of Havok, , and Princesa de la Luna for reviewing the last chapter.

I don't have brownies, but I do have pizza help yourself!

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Getting to Know You**

In the month or so that she had been working for Roy at East City's military headquarters, Kate had gotten to know the rest of his little group quite well. There was the encyclopedia that was the tall grayish haired Vato Falman, that she liked because it was fun talking to him and she always learned something new. The breezy and carefree Jean Havoc, that was almost as much of a womanizer as Roy was, but that she still liked because he was so laid back and easy to be around. Heymans Breda, the short and stocky man that was very good with strategies was also quite entertaining, mainly because he would play chess with Roy and beat him almost every time, much to the higher ranked man's chagrin. The meek looking, Kain Fuery was the resident techie, he was good at fixing just about anything and probably the most frightened of Kate when she was angry. Last but not least, was Riza Hawkeye.

The two woman got along great. It might have had something to do with the fact that after working for Roy for less than a week, Kate had gotten so annoyed with the man for not doing his paperwork like he should have been doing, but was instead dusting off the books in the shelves along one wall, that she had accidentally tripped and had accidentally managed to grab Falman's gun and accidentally fire off a shot that had barely missed Roy's head and destroyed one of his books. Accidentally.

It might also have had something to do with the fact that Kate was quite good with guns and had pretty accurate aim. Riza had kept her promise to teach Kate to use a gun and they had begun going to the firing range the same day she had started working for Roy. Kate had not had a very good first day, it consisted of lots of yelling at Roy who seemed to think that secretary translated to 'personal slave'. Needless to say, she had needed to work off a little steam, so as she was walked through the basics of holding a gun she thought of nothing but Roy's face and when she took her first shot, she nailed the target fifty yards away just slightly off center of its forehead.

Either way, Riza and Kate were quite good friends. All of them were really and at least once a week they would all go out for a few drinks, usually with Roy grumbling about having a date that he'd have to cancel.

As time wore on, Kate grew accustomed to the six people that were the only form of company she had since between school and work she hadn't had much time to do anything let alone make friends or go out. She had had dinner with Leo twice and tonight she had another dinner planned with him and was constantly checking the clock and tapping her foot impatiently against the floor as she sat in one of the chairs in the office and glared at Roy who was doing his paperwork for once, but slowly. Very slowly. So slowly in fact that Kate was positive a turtle could it do it faster, and they don't have the ability to write.

"You seem a bit flustered Kate," Havoc noted from beside her, his cigarette bouncing as he spoke, she was the only one among them that they all addressed by her first name since she insisted on it. "Got a hot date tonight?"

"Something like that, yeah," Kate answered. "What," she snapped at Roy when he looked up at her curiously, one of his black brows raised inquisitively.

"Nothing, I just didn't know you were seeing anyone," he replied evasively.

"Well, it's none of your business, now is it," Kate said pointedly, not bothering to say anything about the fact she was going out with Leo and they were friends, nothing more. "Would you just finish your paperwork already so I can deliver it and go?"

"Actually I think I'm thirsty. Want to get me some coffee, please," he asked as sweetly as he could, giving Kate puppy dog eyes and smiling.

Shooting him a nasty look, Kate got up and made her way out of the room, the uncomfortable black heels she was required to wear clicking against the tile as she walked. Her uniform was the same blue and white as everyone else's, but since she was just a secretary she was forced to wear a skirt, it was fairly long, reaching a few inches past her knees, but it fit snugly around her hips and it annoyed her to no end as she made her way to the break room for the flavorless coffee Roy wanted.

"So Hawkeye, you and Kate are close, who is she going out with tonight," Roy asked once the sound of Kate's footsteps dimmed and then disappeared.

"Is that really any of your business?"

"Of course it is, there's too many men in this world that would take advantage of a pretty girl like Kate."

"Like you," Breda coughed causing everyone at the table to laugh and hide behind their hands as Roy looked them over threateningly.

"I'm only looking out for her," Roy sniffed arrogantly.

"Because you're jealous, right," Havoc inquired, smirking.

"No, I'm not jealous," he replied matter of factly. "I'm just worried."

"Don't worry Colonel, most of the men out there are better mannered than you, I'm sure she'll be fine," Riza told him blandly. "Now why don't you get back to work before she comes back and asks to borrow my gun."

Grumbling to himself as the men at the table mumbled their agreements with Riza's statement, Roy trudged on with his paperwork.

* * *

Kate was in her bathroom, brushing her hair out when she heard a knock on her door, thinking it was probably Leo, she poked her head out of the bathroom and called for him to come in before popping back into the bathroom to finish up. She was dressed casually, a pair of jeans and a long sleeved brown and gold striped top that fit her snugly, her locket was resting on the top of the shirt as she pulled her hair into a ponytail, brushing out some bangs her to the side so that they would frame her face.

She only put on a little make up before grabbing a pair of cream colored gloves and walking out of her bathroom. She was pulling on her gloves as she walked out and didn't look up to greet her guest.

"Sorry for making you wait, I'm ready now though," she said.

"Well, that's good. Where are we going?"

Kate looked up at the sound of the deep voice that was definitely not Leo's. "What the hell are you doing here," she demanded when she saw that the man at her table was Roy. He was out of his work uniform and in a pair of black slacks and a white button up shirt. She couldn't help but think that he looked really good out of his uniform that she had only seen him out of one other time.

"Jeez, that's no way to greet someone who came all this way to take you out to dinner," Roy replied.

"I said earlier I already had plans, so what do you really want Roy?"

"Nothing, I was in the area and thought I'd stop by. I had forgotten you had mentioned you had plans."

"Right."

"It's true, but now that you bring that up, who are you going out with? Anyone I might know," Roy asked.

"It's really none of your business, you know that right," Kate answered coolly.

"I'm just looking out for you, there's a lot of men who don't know how to treat a woman right."

Kate raised a brow. "Like you?"

"I was just worried, that was it. Sorry to have bothered you, I'll go now," he said, standing from her chair to leave.

Kate watched him, confused by the strange look in his eyes and his rather abrupt exit. He seemed truly worried, about what, she didn't know, he was well aware of the fact that she was capable of protecting herself. For a brief second she thought she saw jealousy in his eyes instead of worry, but she brushed it off, there was no way he could be jealous. He had no problem with women according to him so if he had liked her she somehow figured he would have asked her to dinner again or said something, but he hadn't. She had been slightly disappointed at first, Roy really was an interesting man, but then she remembered that she had other things to concentrate on, like school and taking care of her brothers who were still in Dublith training with a woman by the name of Izumi Curtis. She had talked to her once, briefly, she had gotten a phone installed in her apartment after starting working for Roy, he had insisted upon it, and usually called her at random times to ask her meaningless questions about what color flower women preferred or what kind of restaurant he should take his latest girlfriend to.

It had been extremely annoying, but she had gotten used to it and now knew that it was easier to just answer his questions quickly and simply because yelling at him only seemed to make him want to take longer. She had also found ways to make him do his work, but certain tricks only worked so many times and she was running out of ideas. She had already promised to wear a miniskirt, but had conveniently left out when and where and had also not promised to wear it in front of Roy, but it had gotten the paperwork for that day done in half the time it usually took. She had made lots of other promises, all of which she made sure she had a way out of by forgetting to mention the specifics and of course Roy would get over excited and do his work without question only to be fuming mad when he didn't get what she promised, like getting a hand circling his back for a half second as a back rub.

She was startled out of her thoughts when there was a knock on her door, jolting slightly and realizing that she had been standing around staring at her door, Kate shook her head to clear her thoughts and went to open the door, grabbing her purse and keys on the way. Smiling brightly at Leo who winked at her and held out his arm, she shut the door, locked it and let her blue eyed friend lead her out.

They had dinner at a small, family owned shop that served some of the best shepard's pie that Kate had ever had. They talked over little things while they ate, Kate's classes and a little bit about her daily life working for the military as well as how Jeni was now forced to serve occasionally at the Blue Spot since they hadn't been able to find a replacement for Kate that lasted more than a week at a time.

"Oh yeah, I saw that Lieutenant Colonel guy coming out of your building, what was he there for," Leo asked curiously.

Kate shrugged a shoulder. "Don't know really, he says he was worried about me because there are too many guys out there that don't know how to treat a woman, or something like that."

"I think someone's got a crush on you," Leo teased, nudging her foot under the table.

"Yeah right, the man's a complete lazy ass that loves women with very little brain capacity. I ran into him one night with this girl, a red head and her laugh was like a listening to a donkey screaming and she seemed to be as intelligent as one too."

"Hey, donkey's are pretty smart," Leo replied chuckling lightheartedly. "For donkeys anyway."

"Uh huh," Kate retorted with a roll of her eyes while taking a bite of her food. "Whatever. Still I highly doubt he likes me like that, with his ego and how great he thinks he is with women, he'd have said something by now."

"Are you disappointed he hasn't?"

Nearly spitting the sip of water she was in the process of taking all over the table, Kate coughed and shook her head. "Why would I be disappointed? He's a stubborn, arrogant, pain in the ass who doesn't even do his work without being threatened or promised something. He's like a kid and I have two of those to take care of already, at least they're usually well behaved and don't go around spewing a bunch of nonsense at women and batting their eyelashes."

"Batting his eyelashes, huh? I didn't know men did that," Leo said, struggling to keep from busting up laughing.

Kicking him under the table, Kate laughed. "You know what I mean, he's attractive yes, but come on he's too busy juggling his book full of women to even think about having a serious relationship. I'm only interested in a serious relationship, not a few dinner dates when he can make time between the rest of his women. Besides, I'd much rather spend my time with you or go home and see Ed and Al."

"How are they doing by the way, they still in Dublith?"

"Yeah," Kate answered with a nod of her head. "They're doing pretty well though I guess, they never seem to have a lot of time to talk and there's usually lots of yelling and things being thrown so I don't know what they're doing really. The woman they're staying with seems pretty nice, I've talked to her once, usually I only talk to her husband Sig or another guy that works for them, Mason, he seems really nice, I'd like to meet them."

"Why don't you," Leo inquired.

"I don't really have time, between school and work I barely have time to have any sort of life. The only good thing is that I'm saving up quite a bit of money since I never have a chance to spend it," Kate replied, chuckling embarrassingly.

"Take a few days off, it's not like you couldn't use them, and go see your brothers, it's been how long since you've seen them?"

"Too long, I moved out here at the end of December and haven't seen them since and it's March. Three months. I guess I can try to go next weekend, leave after my last class on Friday and come back Sunday night since I have class on Monday."

"I swear, you always have class," Leo commented dryly.

"Yeah, pretty much. I spend all day Monday, from eight a.m to ten p.m in class, after that I have two classes Wednesday night and another two Friday night after work. Doesn't give me a lot of time, but I wasn't expecting to be working a job that was quite as demanding as the one I have. Next semester I think I'll lighten the course load a little so I have a little more time, I also plan on going to the summer sessions for a class or two, the sooner I get all the required credits and degrees, the sooner I can go home," Kate said with a tired sigh.

"Go see your brothers Kate, you need some time to relax and get away from here. Go spend a few days in Dublith and think about something other than school or work. It'll be good for you, promise."

"I guess I can try going next weekend after class on Friday as long as Mustang will give me Saturday off. I really could use a little break away from homework and paperwork."

"It's settled then, you're going," Leo said with a small nod to emphasize his point.

"Right," Kate replied slowly, one brown brow raised as she regarded him with amusement. "You are aware that he's probably one of the most powerful alchemists, right? He can control fire for crying out loud, what are you gonna do, throw a bucket of water o him in water and run?"

Feigning hurt at her comment, Leo sniffed and turned his head away from her, making her laugh at the comical look on his face.

"You should laugh more often, it's a nice sound. As long as you're not snorting," he finished before crying out in pain when Kate kicked his shin.

"I don't snort, it's not ladylike," she stated stiffly.

"Right and you ever claimed to be ladylike?"

"Oh shut up you big jerk," she shot back. "You're the one that can't walk a straight line when sober if the line was drawn on the ground."

"Oh, that was low, Kay. Low."

* * *

"No."

Huffing and crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to not jump over the desk that was dividing her from Roy, Kate took a deep breath and craned her neck to look up at the ceiling to examine it for a moment and reign her anger back in. She had just asked if she could have the following Saturday off so she could go to Dublith to see her brothers, his answer had been quite simple and quick. No. He hadn't even looked up from his paperwork that he was doing, without much prodding, for once. Noting that he seemed to be in a foul mood as he pressed a bit too harshly down on the documents he was signing and refusing to even look at her, Kate decided to try one more time.

"I-"

"No," Roy stated blandly, still not bothering to look up from his paperwork.

"What the hell is your problem today," Kate asked harshly and slightly put off by the cold attitude he was aiming at her and only her.

"I said no. Here, go deliver these," he said handing her a stack of finished documents.

Her jaw dropping at his utter rudeness and complete disregard for her feelings, Kate just stared at him and didn't bother to take the papers from his outstretched hand. Instead she took a deep breath and let her arms drop to her sides, where her hands fisted, she was glad she was wearing gloves otherwise her nails would have been digging into her flesh and simply stared at him until he looked up at her finally.

"Is there a problem," he asked when he lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers emotionlessly.

Shaking her head, Kate spun around on her heel and walked out of the office, leaving all six people in it blinking at her as she went before glancing at each other and choosing to remain quiet. There were tears in her eyes and she looked very upset, not that any of them could blame her, none of them had ever seen Roy act so callous before and none of them would have expected him to act that way towards Kate. Hawkeye was the only one to dare look at Roy who had gone back to work on the paperwork in front of him. Not once had Roy ever been as rude and cold to her or anyone else that she had ever witnessed and it hurt her.

"If you have time to sit there and stare at me Hawkeye, why don't you deliver those for me," Roy said to her, nodding at the stack of papers Kate had left behind.

"Yes sir, it'll give me a reason to leave," she replied evenly, standing up to gather the paperworks and leave the office as calm and collected as she always was.

When she was gone the office was plunged into a tense silence that was only broken by the sounds of Havoc sucking on his cigarette or the scratching of Roy's pen against the papers he was signing. Everyone else had stopped what they were doing, there were books open, papers scattered around, but nothing was being done with them except using them as something to stare so they wouldn't have to look at Roy as he scribbled away at his desk.

That was until Havoc had had enough of the silence and decided to speak up. "Don't you think you were a little harsh? The girl hasn't seen her brothers in what, three months and she's been working her butt off, is one day really that big a deal?"

"Yes Havoc it is a big deal," Roy shot back, dropping his pen and folding his arms over his desk so that he was free to stare irritably at his subordinate.

"What's a big deal?" A familiarly bright voice chirped from the hall before a black haired head popped into view, smiling happily until he took note of the tense atmosphere.

"What are you doing here Hughes, shouldn't you be in Central," Roy asked harshly.

"Jeez, is that anyway to greet a friend who came all this way just to see you," Hughes pouted, pushing his glasses up on his nose and acting hurt.

"I'm in a bad mood so either tell me what you want or get out," Roy snapped.

"What's wrong with him," Hughes asked, turning to the table of men that were all studying whatever as in front of them with interest, except for Havoc who had leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.

"Don't know really, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a certain brunette secretary that I think he just made cry," Havoc said.

"Secretary," Hughes inquired. "You have a secretary? I don't even have a secretary."

"Yeah, she's a pretty little thing too, smart and she puts up with his crap pretty well or dishes it right back at him. All she wanted was a day off to go see her brothers, but boss man said no and he wasn't very nice about it," Havoc told him, ignoring the glare he was getting from Roy.

"I still can't believe he has a secretary," Hughes complained in a childlike whine as he scratched his head. Upon seeing that no one was going to be lightening up anytime soon, the man sighed and took a good look at Roy. "So who's this secretary of yours and just what happened?"

"The girl from the train, Kate Elric, remember her?" Roy answered.

"Yeah, she was a sweetheart, you two really would be perfect together," Hughes chimed.

"I think that's the problem," Havoc put in when Roy only growled and spun around in his chair to stare out the window and ignore everyone.

"I'm not following you, what do you mean," Hughes asked.

"I think he likes her," Havoc replied. "Like actually likes her."

There were hushed mumbles of agreement and heads nodding around the table. Hughes lifted a brow and looked over his shoulder at the back of Roy's chair.

"So what happened then?"

"Nothing. He hired her after she got fired from her job at a bar, which he was partly responsible for, but that's beside the point. Ever since she's started work here, he's made sure to torture her like he does the rest of us, but worse, she puts up with it quite well and has no problem resorting to underhanded measures to get him to do his work. They seem to enjoy it too, until yesterday."

"What happened yesterday," Hughes asked, fully engrossed in Havoc's tale.

"She told him she had a date and he got a little worked up, even went over to her apartment to spy on her. He's been in a bad mood since and when Kate came in and asked for Saturday off so she could go see her brothers, he told her no even though he knows she hasn't seen them in months and could really use a break. The poor girl works full time and goes to school the rest of it, the least he can do is give her a day off, she even offered to come in on one of her other days off, but he still said no. She walked out of here a few minutes before you got here practically in tears," Havoc explained.

"Uh huh, well Roy, it seems like you've really hurt the poor thing and that doesn't sound like you, so why don't you tell us all what's really bothering you," Hughes said, leaning against the table and staring at the back or Roy's head.

"I got dumped," Roy answered, but it sounded too automatic, rehearsed.

"Uh huh," Hughes replied with a small nodded. "Sorry to hear that, why don't you let me take you out for a drink tonight?"

"No thanks."

"I insist, besides I have to talk to you about something."

Hearing a note of urgency in his friend's voice, Roy spun his chair back around and after a quick look at Hughes' face, frowned, but nodded. "Fine."

* * *

"So he really said no," Leo asked, having a hard time imagining someone denying Kate anything, let alone a chance to see her brothers, who she was always talking about.

"Yeah and he wasn't very nice about it," Kate answered solemnly.

She had called Leo when she had gotten back to her apartment, he had had things to do during the day but they had decided to meet for dinner and a few drinks around six at a quiet bar in the downtown area of East City. Kate had barely touched her food, she spent most of her time poking at with the tip of her fork and moving it around her plate.

"He knows what those boys mean to you, how could he say no," Leo replied heatedly.

She shrugged in reply.

"What are you going to do?"

She shook her head noncommittally. "I guess go another time."

"This is ridiculous, you're obviously upset about this, why don't you try talking to him again," Leo suggested.

"I'm not talking to him again if I can help it. I may work for him, but I don't have to talk to him."

Sighing, Leo decided to try changing the topic in hopes of getting her to smile since seeing her so down was rather depressing. "Did I tell you Jeni almost got arrested?"

"No," she answered simply.

"She slapped a woman that turned out to be in the military and married to a police officer, it was pretty funny, you should have seen her face," he laughed, but let it die when Kate's lips didn't so much as twitch. "Come on Kay, seeing you like this is making me want to go kill that guy."

"Sorry, I was just sure he'd say yes. He's never been so cold like that before, but I guess now I know how he really is."

"Well, that's not good," Leo mumbled.

"No it's not," Kate replied, unaware of the fact that he hadn't been replying to her comment, but staring at the door as two men walked in.

"Huh? Oh, well that's not good either, but I was talking about the fact that your boss just walked in," Leo told her, nodding to the door when she looked up with wide eyes.

Glancing behind her, towards the door Kate sighed when she saw the last person she wanted to run into that night. Not noticing the other man with him, she figured he was there to meet one of the many women he claimed to be dating and turned back to Leo with every intention of ignoring him.

"Hey, Roy isn't that Kate," Hughes asked, pointing to the brown haired girl who had turned her back to them.

Following Hughes' finger, Roy let out a small sigh and nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Who's she with?"

"I think his name is Leo, she used to work with him."

"Why don't we go say hi," Hughes chirped.

"I'd really rather-dammit Hughes let me go," Roy ordered when he found himself being led towards the table that Kate was sitting at with Leo, who was watching him carefully and scooting closer to Kate and whispering something in her ear.

Kate stiffened and pushed her plate away from her and made to stand up after Leo told her that Roy was headed in their direction with another person. She had barely managed to stand before she was engulfed in a bone crushing hug that knocked all air from her lungs.

"Oh, it's so nice to see you again. You do remember me right? I'll be so sad if you didn't," the person hugging her told her, talking so fast that it was almost hard to discern what he was saying.

Struggling out of the tight grasp, Kate took a deep breath and looked at the person who had attacked her. "Mr Hughes?"

"You do remember me," he said happily, blushing lightly.

"Of course I remember you," Kate replied with a genuine smile. "How's Gracia?"

"I'm so glad you asked, we're getting married!"

"Really? Congratulations."

"You are," Roy asked with a sideways glance at his friend.

"Yes, that's what I wanted to talk to you about, but that can wait. I'm going to steal Miss Kate and catch up. Have fun," Hughes bubbled before grabbing Kate's wrist and tugging her towards the bar.

Roy and Leo just blinked after them for a moment.

While Kate was at the bar with Hughes, Leo and Roy were sitting silently at the table, drinking and watching them. Kate was actually laughing and seemed to be enjoying herself as Hughes talked animatedly to her about Gracia and their plans.

"At least she's smiling now," Leo commented dryly.

Roy didn't bother to respond as he took another sip of his drink and continued to watch Kate and Hughes. She was smiling and laughing, but he could also tell that she wasn't entirely feeling as happy as she was acting.

"You must be proud of yourself though," Leo said, finally catching Roy's attention.

"What do you mean," he asked.

"I've never seen Kate upset like she was earlier, she was really looking forward to seeing her brothers and you took that away from her. You must be one cruel man to do that to a girl like her. I don't think I could ever tell her no, I wouldn't be able to look her in the eyes again."

"She has a job to do, she can see them on her own time."

"You know damn well she doesn't have any free time. She's always working or in school. You couldn't give her one day to herself?"

"She seems to make time to see you," Roy shot back. "If she has time to date and have a love life, she can't be all that busy."

"Date," Leo replied seeming taken a back by the suggestion. "Kate's like the little sister I never had. I love that girl and I'll look out for her, but we're not dating, that would be kinda gross to be honest. She also doesn't have time for that right now, we hang out about once a week, usually because I think she needs an hour here or there not surrounded by books and work."

"You're not dating," Roy repeated.

"Nope."

"Oh," he replied lamely.

Leo looked at the man questioningly before a small smirk broke out on to his face.

"We're back," Hughes sang, leading Kate back to the table, his arm around her shoulder. "And Kate's agreed to come to the wedding and since Roy is going to be coming because he's my best friend and he wouldn't disappoint me, the two of you should come together, you know as a date. Besides Kate shouldn't travel all the way to Central alone."

"No," Kate replied quickly, averting her eyes from Roy's gray eyes an folding her arms over her chest.

"Why not Kate," Leo asked, surprising her and making her blink at her friend in confusion. "Central can be dangerous, you should go together."

"See," Hughes said.

"No," she replied.

"Come on Roy, say something," Hughes encouraged.

"If she says no, you can't force her."

Kate cocked her head to the side and looked at him. He hadn't said whether or not the idea of going as a date was ok with him or not, she had expected him to complain and say something about having a date would ruin his chances with the women at the wedding.

"Then you're both uninvited."

"What," they both inquired incredulously, gaping at Hughes as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Gracia will be so sad, she was really looking forward to meeting you Roy. You too, Kate, I had told her about you and she was hoping to meet you one day, she said anyone as dedicated to their family as you must be a good person. I must admit, I'm not happy about it either. My best friend won't be coming to my wedding because he's a stubborn, pig headed idiot who doesn't know how to apologize."

Confused by the strange turn the conversation had taken, Kate didn't say anything, she had no idea what to say anyways. It seemed Roy felt the same as he stared at Hughes with an expression of uncertainty.

"Ah, look he's gonna cry," Leo pointed out while Hughes started sniffling and his shoulders shook.

"Don't make a scene Hughes," Roy said warningly.

Kate sighed and patted Hughes on the shoulder in an attempt to console the man, unsure if he was being serious or was truly crying.

"I'll apologize, but you need to stop crying," Roy said.

"Don't bother," Kate put in. "If you're not going to mean it, I don't want to hear it and even if you do apologize it won't make much of a difference. I'm not going anywhere with you."

Hughes' shoulders started shaking fiercely and Kate was getting a bit concerned that he was going to make a very large and embarrassing scene. They were already getting several odd glances from other people in the bad as it was.

"And I wouldn't blame you," Roy told her. "I was a total jerk today and you didn't deserve that, I'm sorry. Honestly, Kate, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No, but you did Roy. I appreciate your apology, but it doesn't change what you did."

"I can't go back in time to change what I did, but I can try to make it up to you. Take Saturday off and go see your brothers, I'll even pay you for the day. I'll also take you to the train station and I'll have a room for you at the military inn in Dublith too," Roy said.

Hughes had stopped his act and was watching Kate as she frowned at Roy, Leo was also watching her, waiting for her answer. She had to admit, his offer was pretty good. Not only would she get paid to not work, she wouldn't have to worry about paying for a room somewhere.

"Fine, but I'm still not going to the wedding-"

Kate was cut off as Hughes sniffled loudly and started to sob into his hands.

"I'd change my mind Kate or you're going to be responsible for making a grown man cry in a bar," Leo said, struggling to not laugh.

"Uh," Kate said hesitantly as Hughes started sobbing louder and the other patrons began to look at their table in irritation. "Alright, alright, just stop crying."

"You've made me so happy and Gracia will be ecstatic," Hughes cried, hugging Kate who choked and tried to breathe as all air was crushed out of her lungs.

* * *

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, fav'd and so on.

I'm dead tired so I'm gonna beg for reviews and then go to bed, so....Please review? Please?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Someday**

The rest of the week past quickly for Kate. She worked, threatened to kill Roy countless times, actually stole Hawkeye's gun and held it to his head at one point and of course went to class. All in all, it was a normal week.

When Friday finally came around, Kate couldn't contain her enthusiasm about getting to go and see her brothers. She was in class at the moment, in the top row of the stadium seats of the lecture hall, tapping her foot impatiently and chewing on the top of her pen. There was ten minutes left to the class and she was praying that the instructor would end class earlier for the night so she could go and catch her train.

Much to her annoyance however, he didn't, in fact, he held them all over for two extra minutes.

Grabbing her bag as soon as the class was dismissed, Kate ran out of the building and made her way to the street where she saw that Roy was already waiting for her. He was leaning up against the side of a black car with his arms folded over his chest as he watched the people milling around, his eyes lingering on one girl in a short skirt as she laughed with some friends. Rolling her eyes, Kate strolled up to him and raised her brows expectantly.

"Ready," he asked with a small grin, knowing full well she had seen what he was staring at.

"Yeah."

He opened the door for her and then walked around to the driver's side to let himself in and start the car. Her bag was already in the back, she had brought it with her to work that morning so that she could go straight to the train station and not miss the last train out of East City for the night.

Her brothers had no idea that she was coming for a visit, she hadn't talked to them, they were always off training with Izumi. She had instead talked with her husband Sig, who had told her where they lived and had been more than happy to hear she was coming to visit them. She wouldn't be seeing them until the following morning since it was going to be late when she got to Dublith and she really needed some sleep.

"Thanks for the ride," Kate said to Roy as she got out of the car and got her bag out of the back.

"Hey, Kate," he protested when she began to walk away without another word. He had gotten used to her being upset with him, she still hadn't forgiven him for his rudeness and made sure he knew she wasn't happy with him.

"Yes," she answered blandly when he appeared next to her.

"I just wanted to tell you to have a nice time and to let you know that there will be someone waiting for at the station in Dublith. I didn't want you wandering around a strange town at night so I arranged for someone to pick you up and take you to the hotel."

"Thanks."

Nodding, Roy slowed his pace and let Kate walk away from him with a frown on his face. She was still mad, definitely still mad.

* * *

Kate jolted awake in response to a light tap on her shoulder and blinked her red and tired eyes lazily at the train conductor who had woken her.

"We're in Dublith miss," he said politely.

"Oh, thank you for waking me," she answered, standing from her seat and grabbing her bag from the seat beside her.

Yawning while making her way into the small train station of Dublith, Kate didn't even bother to try and look at her surroundings. Instead she walked towards the only person in the building that didn't work there. A man no more than 29 with short dark brown hair, he was about the same height as her, but his body was lean to the point Kate thought about buying him a candy bar from the snack stand, but the laziness kept her from doing so.

"Ms Elric?" The young man questioned as she approached him. "I'm Matt, I'll be escorting you to the inn tonight."

Kate nodded, too lazy to speak and offered a tiny smile to the brown eyed man that took her bag from her hand and led her out of the building to a waiting car. He opened the car door for her, closing it once she was inside and after stowing her bag, he climbed behind the wheel and they were off.

She wasn't sure if Matt had tried talking to her or not, she was too tired to pay attention to anything and spent the short ride with her head against the window and her eyes closed. When she felt the car slow and come to a stop before being shut off, she opened her eyes and looked out of her window to see that they were parked in front of the inn.

It was a three story brick building that looked to be the best kept one on the block and the brightest with all of the lights in front of it lit. Stepping out of the car as the door was opened, Kate made her way inside without bothering to wait for Matt and went straight to the desk where a smiling woman with chocolate colored hair and green eyes stood, smiling at her.

"Ms Elric I presume," she said sweetly.

"Yes, checking in for two nights. The charges should be taken care of."

"Yes ma'am, everything is taken care of, including meal costs if you chose to dine with us. Your room is on the third floor, number is on the key and Matt is already taking your bag up for you. If you need anything else please let us know."

"Thank you," Kate said, picking up the brass key and glancing at the metal tag that had the room number attached to it. She was about to walk away when she turned back around. "You know, I should probably have you wake me so I don't sleep all day."

* * *

Kate awoke to the sound of the metallic sound of the phone ringing. Groaning, she stretched and yawned widely, grunting when the bright morning sun that was filtering through the curtains she hadn't fully closed stung her eyes. If it weren't for the fact that she was going to be seeing her brothers, she would have gone back to sleep in the comfortable bed, but she dragged her heavy body from the sheets and stumbled her way to the bathroom.

After a boiling hot shower to wake her up, she took a peek outside to see what the weather was like. She grunted when she could feel the heat coming off the window and it was still only morning. Being that she had a habit of wearing long sleeved shirts and gloves, Kate didn't really care for the heat and wasn't looking forward to being out in. She dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans, a white tank top and a cropped red cardigan, it was of course long sleeved, but it was made of a lighter fabric that would still breath. She pulled on a pair of the nude colored gloves she had taken to wearing instead of the black ones she had almost always worn before that and then slipped her feet into a pair of black slip ons. After haphazardly throwing her hair into a ponytail, letting her bangs hang over her face, she grabbed a small purse and headed out, stopping at the desk to ask for directions to the butcher shop that was owned by the Curtis'.

She found the shop without much trouble, it was only about a ten minute walk from the hotel and thankfully most of it was shaded by the buildings that lined the street, it was still hot, but the shade helped to keep her from sweating like a pig at least. Opening the door, Kate breathed a sigh of contentment when she was greeted by a rush of cool air, there was a small string of bells attached to the door knob that tinkled as she shut the door behind herself and walked towards the counter. The door behind it opened and a well built man with short dark hair walked in, smiling at her.

"Hello, how can I.." he trailed off as he looked at Kate and his grin grew as he turned his head back towards the door. "Hey boss, we have a special guest," he called before turning his attention back to Kate. "I'm Mason, I'm guessing you're Kate, you and Ed have the same eyes."

"Yup, I'm Kate. It's nice to finally meet you Mr Mason," Kate replied politely.

"Eh, just Mason, that mister stuff makes me feel old," he chuckled.

Kate was about to ask about her brothers when the same door Mason had just walked through reopened and a very large, very muscular man with black hair and a black beard to match lumbered through it.

"So you're Kate, I'm Sig, it's nice to finally meet you. Ed and Al talk about you all the time."

"Thank you for taking them in, though I somehow doubt they gave you and your wife much choice," Kate said with a bashful grin.

"They are pretty determined," Mason agreed, smiling at Kate.

"Um, so where are they? I'd really love to see them," Kate asked, feeling a little awkward and not knowing what to really talk about.

"They're training with Izumi out near the lake. Mason, why don't you show her the way so she doesn't get lost," Sig suggested.

"I'd love to, come on Kate," Mason said to her, removing his apron and waving a hand towards the door.

"Thank you," Kate said to Sig and happily followed Mason out of the shop, excited at finally getting to see her brothers.

Kate and Mason talked as they made their way down to the lake. Mainly about her brothers and the month they spent alone on an island, which had sort of freaked Kate out at first, they were still only kids after all, but she found herself being rather proud of them in the end for being able to endure it.

"They don't know that I was coming right," Kate asked as they walked through the tree lined paths that led to Lake Kauroy, she could hear sounds of fighting and talking in the distance that she knew was her brothers and she guessed the female voice was their teacher, Izumi.

"Nope, they have no idea," Mason answered.

A devious grin made its way to Kate's face and she chuckled to herself. Following the sounds of the fighting and yelling, Kate and Mason made their way towards a small clearing where she could see three people. Mason was just about to walk into the clearing, when Kate stopped him by putting a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"Wait just a sec, I want to surprise them," Kate said an evil glint in her gold eyes as she watched her brothers spar with a woman Kate thought was quite pretty with her dark, dreadlocked hair, pale skin and blue eyes.

Staying hidden in the trees, Kate waited and watched as her brothers continually got the snot beat out of them. They were doing really well in her opinion, they didn't give up and they kept trying, working together as much as possible, but the woman they were fighting against, was much more skilled then them and it was obvious. Kate knew that the woman training them had noticed her and Mason's presence, but had chosen to continue with the training session. After about a half an hour, she must have gotten curious about why neither one was coming forward and told the boys to take a break at which they sighed and fell onto their butts in the dirt, back to back and using each other for support to stay upright.

"I think it's time I said hello, if you'll excuse me Mason, I'm going to go and play with my brothers now," Kate winked at the man before running out of the bushes and straight at the two boys sitting in the dirt.

Ed was about to take a sip from a canteen when he heard the soft sounds of feet hitting the dirt, being that Kate was quick and light, she didn't make much noise, but he still heard it and his head flew around to see who was coming at them. He was confused when he saw that it was Kate, but a big smile appeared on his face and he started to stand up. Kate, however, had other plans, she snatched the canteen from his hand and ran past him into the trees.

"Hey," Ed cried as he watched Kate run off with their water. "Give that back!"

"Gotta catch me first," she yelled over her shoulder. "If you can."

Growling in frustration, Ed took off after Kate, Al scrambling off the ground to follow after him.

"I'm gonna kick your ass Kay," Ed shouted.

"Just you try it, shrimp!"

"Who the hell are you calling a shrimp, you damn toothpick?!"

"Edward Elric watch your language, and I'm naturally slim, by the way," Kate scolded, smirking when she looked over her shoulder to see that Ed's face was bright red as he glared at her.

"Hey big brother," Al asked, panting slightly as he caught up to Ed. "What's Kate even doing here?"

"How should I know," Ed barked, scowling when he lost sight of Kate through the trees. "Damn it, where the hell did she go?"

"What did I tell you about your language Edward?"

Skidding to a stop, Ed spun around to glare at Kate who was casually leaning against a tree trunk and taking a swig of water from the canteen she had stolen from him. Al stopped too, looking between his sister and brother and knowing automatically that someone, most likely Ed, was going to get hurt or at least humiliated.

"Stopping glaring at me Ed, I thought you were going to kick my ass, not stare at me," Kate said with a lopsided grin.

"You wanna fight, fine, you've never been very good anyway," Ed shouted before launching himself at Kate and throwing a punch at her side.

She caught his fist, twisting his arm before sweeping his legs out from beneath him, he grunted as his back collided with the dirt.

"Didn't I tell you," she told him innocently. "Since I work for the military in a potentially dangerous spot, I've been learning to fight and use a gun."

Laughing at the pissed of expression on Ed's face as he twisted his body around to push himself up, Kate didn't immediately notice that it was taking him just a bit too long to get up.

"Brother what are doing," Al shouted worriedly.

"Huh," Kate stopped laughing to look down at Edward who had turned to grin at her before raising his hands over the dirt. It was then that she noticed the transmutation circle he had drawn in the dirt with his finger. "Edward, don't you dare put your hands on that circle!"

"Heh. Too late," he sneered, before throwing his hands towards the ground.

Kate's eyes widened, not knowing exactly what to expect as there was a flash of blue light and the earth beneath her shifted and several metal rods began to grow out of the ground, circling her and caging her.

"I hope you didn't forget that you're not the only one who knows alchemy you little brat," Kate snapped.

"You can't do anything to-ah!"

Ed squeaked in surprise as several green vines popped out of the ground and wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his sides and making it impossible for him to move. Several little buds sprouted tiny flowers along the vines, but the largest of the flowers was a red rose that had bloomed from a vine just above Ed's head, the petals of which rested on the boy's head. The bars that were growing around Kate, sunk back into the earth to reveal that Kate had crouched down and her hands were on the ground. Standing up and dusting her hands off, Kate put her hands on her hips and stared at Ed who was desperately trying to get free of the bonds that held him.

"You've gotten pretty good little bro, I'm proud of you. Still have a short temper though, you need to work on that.".

"I am not short!"

"Chill out will ya, I said your temper is short, not you."

"Whatever, just let me go," Ed demanded haughtily.

"Ask nicely," Kate replied.

Growling, Ed turned his head away stubbornly, but refused to say anything else.

"Ask nicely or I'll leave you there," Kate threatened in a sing song voice.

"Let me down.... Please."

"That's better," Kate replied, crouching down and bringing her hands together before seeming to realize something and stopping. Pulling one of her gloves from her hand, Kate used her fingers to dig out a transmutation circle before putting her palms over it.

The vines around Ed loosened and shrank until they were nothing but a small patch of flowers at his feet. Not a moment later as she started to stand up, Al ran at her, throwing his arms around her waist and throwing the both of them to the ground.

Kate laughed, hugging him back before rubbing at her back. "I missed you too, but did you have to tackle me?"

"Sorry," Al said sheepishly.

"It's alright, come here," she replied, hugging him again. "You too Ed, come here," she waved Ed over, but at first he only glared at her, but the glare faded and was replaced with a wide grin as he too threw himself at Kate and hugged her. "I've missed you two so much."

"We missed you too," Al told her, smiling up at her.

"How long are you here for," Ed asked.

"I have to go back tomorrow night, I have class on Monday. Don't look at me like that," Kate whined when both boys gave her the saddest looks they could muster.

"But we haven't seen you in forever!" Al protested.

"Yeah, can't you stay longer," Ed added.

"Sorry, but I can't. Besides, you guys have your training to focus on. I'm going to have more free time over the summer and I plan on spending a few weeks with you both then, ok?"

"Ok," they both sighed in defeat.

"If you two don't stop pouting I won't buy you any ice cream," Kate chided.

Both boys' eyes instantly brightened and they jumped up, tugging Kate with them and pulling her back in the direction they had come.

* * *

After spending most of the day walking through the town or sitting around the lake, Kate and her brothers made their way back towards the Curtis' shop and home. She followed the two in the door that led to their home only to scream and duck when a knife was thrown at her, barely missing her head before embedding itself in the wall behind her.

"You brats are late!" Izumi yelled from where she was cutting vegetables in the kitchen while Sig pulled something from the oven, unaffected by her out burst.

"Sorry teacher," both boys coursed together, bowing respectfully to the woman who was glaring down at them with her hands on her hips.

"You better be, now go clean up, dinner's almost done," Izumi ordered, pointing to the hall to the right.

"Yes teacher."

Blinking in shock as her two blonde brothers obediently walked off to clean up, Kate stayed where she was, not sure of exactly what to do and afraid another knife might get thrown her way if she so much as twitched.

"You alright," Mason asked her, walking up to her to look at her curiously.

"Uh, she's kinda scary, isn't she?" Kate asked, nervously scratching at her head.

"Eh, she's harmless," Mason replied.

Kate gave him an incredulous look, wondering if he was serious and judging by the smile on his face, he was.

"Right," she drawled slowly.

"You're joining us for dinner, right," Mason asked.

"Uh, I don't want to be a burden, you've done-"

"Sit down," Izumi said.

"Yes ma'am," Kate squeaked, plunking herself down at the table much to the amusement of Mason who laughed heartily at her.

"Take it easy on the girl Izumi, she's not used to your loving personality," Mason teased.

"Um, since they're not here at the moment, can I ask how they've been? After mom died, they both were so sad and it didn't seem like they would ever get over it, but the seem totally different now," Kate observed, thinking about how they had acted throughout the day. It was as if they weren't affected by the death of their mother anymore, almost like it had never happened at all and she was a little concerned. She was happy that they seemed so bright and cheery, but at the same time they hadn't mentioned their mother at all and when she had, they had both exchanged looks as if there was a secret she didn't know and couldn't know.

"They've been fine," Izumi answered. "They're extremely determined and they don't give up, they want to learn alchemy and they won't take no for an answer."

"They've been behaving themselves, I hope," Kate asked.

Izumi nodded, wiping her hands on the apron she wore to keep her white dress like blouse free of food. "For the most part."

"Well that's good. I'm thankful to you for taking them in and agreeing to teach them and train them, they seem to have grown a lot in the last few months."

"They're quick learners and they have no fear of anything."

"We're scared of you teacher," Ed said as he sauntered back into the room to sit beside Kate at the table.

"Yeah," Al laughed as he took the seat on the other side of Kate.

"Ow!" Both boys cried at the same time, rubbing the backs of their heads and sulkily glancing over at Kate who had whacked them upside the heads.

"Be respectful you runts, they've taken you in, feed you and you're learning some pretty valuable lessons and for free," Kate scolded.

"Listen to your sister, she knows what she's talking about," Izumi spoke up, grinning at them.

* * *

After dinner, Kate sat with the Curtis', Mason and her brothers. They talked and eventually Ed and Al, exhausted from their training and their time walking through the town, fell asleep on her. She was sitting on the floor, her legs crossed and her back against a comfortable red chair. Ed's head was in her lap, his legs stretched out and his hand on his stomach, that was partially exposed. Al was leaning against her shoulder, her arm was around him and he snored lightly as he slept against her, the sound of her heartbeat having lulled him off to a peaceful sleep.

Kate rested her cheek against Al's head, perfectly happy and never wanting the moment to end, but knowing that it would and all too soon they would be separated again. She didn't like not being near them, it made her feel as if a part of herself was missing. The two boys that were asleep on her really were her heart and soul and it was hard to think about going back to East City after only being able to spend two short days with them, especially since she knew it would be at least July before she would be able to see them again.

Mason and Sig later carried the two boys to the room they shared and Kate went back to the hotel to get some sleep and come back the following day. She was catching a much earlier train so she wouldn't have a lot of time to spend with the two the following day and she wanted to spend as much of it with them as possible.

* * *

Kate laughed heartily as she stared down at her the two boys who were lying in the dirt at her feet, panting for breath and grinning up at her as she put her hands on her hips and smirked.

"See, what did I tell you," Kate boasted. "I've been learning to fight too. Not so bad, am I?"

"Oh, shut up," Ed grumbled, his smirk never leaving his face.

"Don't worry, if you weren't so small, I'm sure you'd have done better," Kate replied, an evil glint in her eye.

"Who are you calling so small that you need a microscope and a magnifying glass to see him!" Ed shouted, jumping to his feet angrily.

"I'm calling you small because you are, so deal with it. Al's small too, you wanna know why?"

Ed just glared at her and Al looked at her, waiting for her explanation.

"Because you're the little brothers, you're supposed to be," Kate said, ruffling Ed's hair playfully.

"We won't always be so small, right Al?"

"Right big brother and then we'll take care of Kate so she doesn't have to work so hard," Al answered proudly.

"Right," Ed nodded surely.

Kate smiled warmly at them, stepping forward to hold a hand out to Al and heft him off the ground. "Lets go have lunch, I'm all packed so we'll have sometime to do a little more exploring before I have to go catch my train."

At the mention of Kate's quickly approaching departure, the boys' little faces and the took to staring at the ground beneath their feet. Kate sighed, stopping to cross her arms over her chest and stare at the two.

"That's enough of that. You two want to take care of me, right?" Kate asked.

The two nodded, looking up at her with their bright, but saddened eyes.

"Then you need to get stronger because if I can beat you, then how are you going to protect me? So are you going to mope around or are you going to spend time with your sister while you can and then get stronger so that next time we spar, you can beat me?"

Ed and Al exchanged looks. At first the saddened expressions didn't leave their faces, but after a moment a determined grin spread over Ed's face and a wide smile found its way to Al's.

"She's right brother, we need to get stronger and teacher can help us with that. Next time we see Kate, we'll be able to beat her, won't we," Al asked Ed.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, we'll beat her next time, that's a promise."

"Good," Kate said. "Now lets go eat, I'm starving."

* * *

Ed and Al stood proudly in front of Kate, determined to show her that they were capable of being strong for her.

"You guys behave, call me if you need anything, ok," she said.

They both nodded in understanding.

"Alright. I have to go, I love you both," she told them, leaning down to give them both hugs and kiss their cheeks.

"Love you too, Kay," Ed replied.

"Yeah, love you too," Al chirped happily.

"Next time we see you, we'll be stronger, that's a promise, right Al?" Ed asked, his eyes full of pride.

"Right," Al nodded.

"You better be," Kate smiled, glancing behind her as the train's horn roared to signal it was about to leave. "I've got to go, love you," she called as she waved over her shoulder and jogged to the train.

* * *

The train ride was boring, but Kate occupied herself with thinking of how strong and mature her brothers were becoming. She smiled softly to herself throughout most of the ride and was glad that her pride in her brothers was distracting her from the slight ache in her chest that came from having to leave them again.

It was a little easier this time though, Ed wasn't mad at her and the two weren't as upset they had been when she had left Resembool. She was still sad and she missed them already, but she was trying to think positively and she knew that not only were Ed and Al where they needed to be for now, so was she. A scowl crossed her face for a moment when she remembered that she had class the next day and she had a test in her first class.

She sighed, thinking that things could be worse, but then she remembered that she was being forced to attended Mr Hughes' wedding as Roy's date. That made her change her mind and think that things couldn't get much worse than that.

She was soon proven wrong when she disembarked the train and began the trek through the station to hail a cab and go home. She was just about to walk through the large double doors that led to the street when someone fell into step beside her. There was an audible grunt of annoyance from Kate and a frown took residence on her face after casting a quick glance at her company that was smiling self-assuredly at her.

"Can I help you?" Kate asked.

"No, but I can help you," he replied.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. I can give you a ride and I'll even throw in dinner."

"Well aren't you being unusually generous."

"Is that a yes?"

Kate sighed. "Sure, why not. It's still early and I'm starving."

"You're not still mad at me," Roy asked, he hadn't expected her to willingly say yes.

"I'm still mad, but you've done a lot to make up for what you did. Not that that fixes how you acted or treated me, but it's a start. Besides, you'll look really pathetic eating dinner all by yourself so I could at least make you look good by going to dinner with you."

"You're in a good mood," he observed. "It's a little scary. You're not planning to poison my food when I'm not looking are you?"

Laughing, Kate shook her head. "Nope. I need a job and if I kill you, I'm out of one."

"Is that all I'm good for, money?"

"Yup."

"Couldn't you like me for my body instead?"

"Nope."

"But didn't you want to see me without a shirt on?"

"Then take it off and let me see," Kate said with a shrug.

Roy dead panned. "I think I'll keep it on actually."

"Chicken."

"If you're going to be in such a good mood after taking a day off and going to see your brothers, then you should do it more often," Roy told her.

"I'd love to, but we made a deal. The next time I see them, they're going to be stronger than me because they want to take care of me and they can't do that if I'm stronger than them now can they? I'll wait awhile before seeing them again, give them to keep their promise," she replied with a happy smile.

Roy studied the smooth lines of her face as she smiled up at him, she really was beautiful and that fact didn't escape him. When he noticed her looking at him oddly, he turned away from her with a frown.

"Something wrong," she asked.

"You'll make some man really happy one day Kate," he replied.

The response made Kate stiffen and her eyes widen, the statement had been out of the blue and she had a strange feeling that there was a slight feeling of bitterness beneath the compliment and it confused her.

"Thanks," she said slowly, uncertain of what else to say.

"Lets go to dinner, shall we," Roy asked, his entire demeanor changing, further confusing Kate as she took the arm he was offering her.

* * *

I'm going to make this quick, I spent all of yesterday in the Urgent care center and then at the lab getting a bunch of tests done. I'm sick and my lungs are being stupid so I can't take full breaths and they hurt, a lot.

Anyway, I had wanted there to be more Ed and Al, but for some reason there just wasn't and it wasn't intentional, so, sorry about that. Next chapter is almost done so expect that soon-ish. There's sone Roy and Kate fun time, yay!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, fav'd, etc. You are the bestest.

Please review, I'm off to lay around and watch some Kyo Kara Maou and the Bleach:Memories of Nobody movie in english since I've seen the subtitled version and want to see that one too. Byebyes!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Meaningless, or Not**

The following Sunday evening found Kate sitting at her table, grumbling and mumbling to herself as she studied the text of the thick book in front of her and occasionally scribbled something down in the notebook beside it that was already filled with a bunch of seemingly random notations in her neat, small script.

Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she was wearing a pair of loose brown pajama bottoms that tied at the waist and a plain, somewhat baggy tan shirt. She was sitting cross legged in the chair, one of her knees bouncing constantly, a nervous habit she had yet to fully notice. She had the day off and she was trying to catch up on her homework, much of which was due tomorrow and she was silently thankful that she also had Mondays off so that she could study all night and just sleep all day once she got home from school.

Every so often she would stop what she was doing to drop her pencil and pick up the fork that was resting on the red plate in the middle of the table and scoop up a piece of cherry pie. The pie had at some point been whole, but now all that remained was about half of it. It was just as she was taking another bite of the pie that there was a knock on her door, startling her and making her drop the piece onto her just taken notes.

"Oh come on," Kate mumbled agitatedly, glaring at the mess that had ruined her notes.

There was another knock at the door and she growled, unfolding herself from her chair, her pants falling to her ankles as she stood and stalked away from the table.

"This had better be good," she muttered to herself before pulling open the door to come face to face with the one person she really didn't want to see at the moment.

"What took you so long," Roy asked, ignoring the annoyance that was evident on Kate's face as he walked in without waiting for her to invite him.

"I was busy," Kate replied shortly. "And if you can't tell, I have a lot of homework, so go away. Please."

"But I'm hungry."

Staring in disbelief at him, Kate didn't know whether to take him seriously or to just throw the nearest sharp object at him and be done with it. In the week since she had returned from Dublith and had had dinner with him, Roy had been sure to give her an extra hard time since she no longer seemed mad at him and he wasn't scared she'd hurt him, seriously. He would send her on some wild goose chase throughout HQ only to have her return empty handed to see him napping in his chair. He had been late getting his paperwork done three out of the five days she had worked and she had had to listen to the various people she delivered it to complaining and yelling at her and of course she had to take it all and not talk back, she was just the secretary after all. There had of course been more, but she was trying to not think about it as he waltzed self-assuredly through her apartment.

"What does that have to do with me," she finally asked, crossing her arms over chest with a huff.

"I'm lazy, you're my secretary, cook me something," Roy answered, taking off the black coat he wore over his uniform and looking curiously at the mess of papers that was currently strewn about the table.

Her jaw dropping, Kate couldn't do anything but stare at the man that proceeded to make himself comfortable at her table and started reading through one of the books that was set out. Shaking her head to regain herself, Kate walked over to him, grabbed her book from him, slammed it shut, put it back on the table, grabbed Roy's coat from the back of the chair he had set it on, grabbed his collar, making him squeak when she nearly choked him, pulled him out of the chair and dragged him towards the door.

"Get out," she demanded tersely, thrusting his coat into his hands, opening her door and staring expectantly at him.

"Jeez, you're in a bad mood, as always," Roy said, acting offended as he scratched at the top of his head. "And I came all this way just to see you."

"Well thanks for the visit, see you Tuesday, out."

"You're cute when you're mad, a little scary, but cute."

"Mustang," she growled, none too playfully. "If you haven't noticed, I'm buried in homework at the moment and I don't have the time to play games with you. Please leave and let me do my work," she said, her voice becoming more of a whine than the angry growl she had meant it to be.

As he was about to reply, his stomach gurgled, loudly. Chuckling and rubbing at his stomach as Kate gaped at him, Roy didn't say anything and only looked at her pathetically.

Sighing and shaking her head with a small laugh, Kate shut her door and turned towards her kitchen. "Go sit down."

Doing so without a word, Roy made himself comfortable at her table and listened to her rummaging around in the kitchen.

As much as she would have liked to push him out the door and then slam it in his face, she couldn't. She hated to admit it, but she actually liked the guy. He had his bad sides, many of them, but he was still a good person and Kate couldn't ignore that fact at the moment as she moved things around her counter and grabbed a cutting board.

After a few minutes of hearing her moving things around and chopping something, Roy got curious and wandered over to the kitchen. Kate hadn't noticed him, her back was too him as she chopped an onion, one of her feet was raised and resting against the other knee and Roy studied her for a moment before deciding to make himself known.

"Need any help," he offered.

She was just pushing the onion to the side when he had spoken and was reaching for something else, he had surprised her and she gasped, jumping from the scare and dropping the knife that was in her right hand.

"Ah!" She cried when the knife sliced across her skin between her elbow and wrist and red blood instantly bloomed from the cut.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you, you alright," Roy asked in concern as Kate grabbed a napkin and placed it over the cut.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, her face contorted in a grimace from the sting of the cut. "Ow."

"Let me see," Roy said, holding out a hand, when Kate refused and only shook her head, he sighed and stepped forward to gently grab her hand and move the napkin aside to look at the cut. "It's fairly deep and it's bleeding pretty badly, we should take you to the hospital."

"No, I'm fine," she protested, wrenching her hand from his grasp.

"You're not fine. Come on, get a coat, I'll drive you."

She shook her head vigorously. "No, I'm not going, I have homework, I'm busy."

"Fine, have it your way," Roy replied nonchalantly and turned around to walk out of her kitchen.

Kate was a little surprised that he let it go and smirked to herself before wincing when she put pressure on the cut to staunch the bleeding. She was walking out of the kitchen to go to the bathroom to clean the cut and bandage it when a heavy black coat was put over her shoulders and her feet were swept out from under her.

"What are you doing," Kate squealed, her eyes wide as she looked into Roy's gray eyes with shock.

"Taking you to the hospital. I suggest you don't fight, I'm stronger and you'll lose," Roy answered simply, adjusting his grip on her and making it nearly impossible for her to struggle against the bonds of his muscled arms.

"I don't want to go, I'm fine," she protested.

"I told you not to bother, I'm taking you, so shut up and behave."

Seeing as how they were already out of her apartment and it was obvious that Kate wouldn't be able to talk her way out of the situation, she let Roy carry her down stairs and to his car, a stubborn look on her face the whole time. The thought of running when he set her in the passenger seat was tempting, but she didn't bother, with a single look at Roy, she doubted she'd get far.

The drive to the hospital didn't take long and Kate really didn't want to get out of the car, but it was either walk on her own or be carried by Roy and seeing as how a cut to her arm wasn't impairing her ability to walk she figured she'd keep some of her dignity and walk on her own, even if she was barefoot. Until they got inside the hospital anyways, where she freaked out a little and tried to turn around and leave only to have Roy grab her shoulders and spin her back around.

"Did I mention I don't like needles and did you know that's what they use to stitch things," Kate said harshly over her shoulder as she was led to the check in desk.

"You'll be fine," Roy assured her.

Well he was wrong, she was not fine. She was until the second that the doctor pulled out a syringe to give her a shot to numb the pain before he stitched the cut that had been cleaned and had stopped bleeding. She had handled that just fine, but as soon as she saw the needle on the syringe, she blanched, stood up and walked out of the room. The doctor yelled after her, but she ignored him and made her way to the waiting room where Roy was waiting, reading boredly over a newspaper, she was a little surprised to find him there and not flirting with the nurse at the counter who kept glancing at him.

"We're leaving," she said, barely stopping as she walked past him.

"You're done?"

"Young lady where do you think you're going," the doctor she had run out on demanded just as she was about to walk out the doors.

"Home," Kate answered, pointing towards the doors.

"You need to have that stitched up first," the doctor reminded her.

She shook her head. "Nope, I'm good."

"Kate," Roy called, grabbing her right hand that wasn't injured and stopping her from leaving.

"Please," Kate pleaded. "I'm fine, I just want to go home."

Now that he had a hold of her, he realized her entire body was shaking and her face had lost all color. The look in her gold eyes was that of a frightened and cornered animal. Frowning, Roy looked back at the doctor. "Are the stitches absolutely necessary, can it just be bandaged?"

"No, the cut is too deep. If it it's just bandaged it will keep opening and likely get infected."

Kate shook her head when Roy looked back at her, his frown still in place.

"You heard him, you need the stitches."

"No," she pleaded, her voice shaking and tears forming in her eyes. "Please just take me home."

"I can't do that," Roy replied apologetically. He had never seen Kate act so frightened and he really would have liked to just scoop her up into his arms and take her home like she wanted, but he didn't want to risk the cut on her arm getting worse or not healing. "I'll sit with you, but you need those stitches Kay."

Bowing her head and not answering or even noticing he had used her nickname, that he rarely ever used, Kate knew that it was probably useless to fight Roy, she was too afraid and it was making her weak. When his arms wrapped around her again and lifted her small, bare feet from the floor and cradled her trembling body to his chest, she couldn't bring herself to look up at him or even pay attention to where he was taking her. He was being unusually kind in her opinion, not that he was ever not a kind person, he just had a tendency to be arrogant and make it seem as if he cared only for himself, even though anyone who knew him well knew that wasn't the case. \

She didn't notice that instead of just sitting her down on the exam bed by herself, he had kept her in his arms and sat down with her still in his grip. When the doctor went to retrieve the needle, Kate began shaking fiercely and she turned her head away to bury it into the curve of Roy's neck. It was then that she finally realized the position she was in in his lap, her eyes widened slightly and she felt heat rush to her cheeks as she rested her forehead against the cool skin of his neck, she could hear his heartbeat and smell the masculine scent that was coming off his skin, it made her forget about where she was until she heard the doctor telling Roy to hold her still since she was shaking so badly. At that point all thoughts went out the window and she forget to be embarrassed about her position on his lap or the way she had buried her head in his neck.

Closing her eyes, Kate could feel the doctor's gloved hand take hers and with a small groan, she buried her head further into Roy's neck and shoulder. His hands squeezed her briefly, reassuring her as the doctor prepared to stick the needle into her arm, and this was just the pain killer.

Roy could feel the warmth of Kate's skin against his own and it made his heart speed up for a moment until he felt the hot tears that had spilled from her eyes running down his neck as the doctor inserted the syringe into her arm. She made a small noise of discomfort and tried to scoot closer to him, which in the position they were in was fairly impossible.

"There that wasn't so bad was it," the doctor said to Kate as he withdrew the needle from her skin. "You don't need many stitches, this won't take long."

Her free hand clutched at Roy's jacket and she took a shuddering breath, ignoring the doctor's words and trying to concentrate on not freaking out and hyperventilating at the thought of having a needle repeatedly pushed into her skin. She could feel the pain killers at work in her system already, her mind was growing fuzzy and her body felt as if it were somewhere else entirely, but that didn't keep her from thinking about what was about to happen. Opening her eyes slowly, Kate began to lift her head to turn to where the doctor was threading a needle, but Roy stopped her, putting a hand under her chin and turning her face back to his.

"I don't suggest looking over there," he said with a small smile.

Gulping, Kate nodded and moaned a little when her head spun, closing her eyes, she let her head fall back onto Roy's shoulder and tried to ignore the spinning sensation and the way her stomach was beginning to turn in anticipation of the coming stitches. She hadn't realized it, but she was trembling still and on top of that her breathing had become heavy and slightly panicked. It startled her when Roy placed his hand on her head and lightly ran it over her hair in soothing strokes. Swallowing, Kate let him comfort her, curious as to if he even realized what he was doing.

It was in the same instant that the doctor went to insert the needle into her skin to begin stitching the cut that she gasped, but it wasn't due to the discomfort or her fear of needles, it was because of the images that flashed through her mind. She had known Roy for over two months now and had come into direct contact with him several times, but she rarely ever saw anything anymore when touching him and if she did, it seemed to be meaningless images. This time though as she rested her warm forehead against his neck, the images that flashed through her mind... were all of her.

She saw the day they had first met on the train, the day he had gotten her fired and then random images of her smiling at him or teasing him as they worked. Not knowing what would make her see images of her from the past it made her feel awkward. Her and Roy had developed a pretty good friendship and while they would occasionally go out for drinks with Havoc, Hawkeye, Breda, Falman and Fuery, she didn't think there was anything special about their relationship.

Of course she wouldn't deny that there were a few awkward moments between the two when they got just a little too close or when Kate would get angry at him for flirting with half the women at the East headquarters and he would pick on her for being jealous. She also wouldn't deny that she was attracted to him, she was getting to know him better and though he was a womanizer and lazy, he was also very protective of his subordinates and she respected him for that, she was one of those subordinates after all.

She had already figured that he wasn't interested in her in any romantic way though, at first she had been disappointed, but she had gotten over it fairly quickly. She had other things to worry about and his womanizing ways got a bit annoying, he obviously wasn't ready for a committed relationship. But seeing all of the images of her made her think that maybe she had been wrong and something in her sparked with hope that she had been. She didn't entirely understand the feeling, yes she found him attractive, yes she respected him despite the way he acted at work but she didn't think she had liked him in that respect any longer. When she had first met him, she definitely wouldn't deny that she had been quite pleased and had hoped that they would see more of each other, but as time wore on she didn't see that happening and she had decided to let it be and just let what happened happen.

Trying to sit still was difficult for her as she felt the needle repeatedly pierce her skin and the tug as the thread was pulled through and tightened to close the wound.

"You're alright, just relax. It's almost over," Roy murmured in her.

Nodding, she swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to concentrate only on the sound of Roy's heartbeat. It proved to help, a little bit anyways, she could still feel the thread being pulled through her skin, but it seemed a bit more distant. When the doctor finally finished and bandaged up the cut, Kate peeked one eye open and raised her head.

"Ok, you can go home now, the nurse will have some papers for you on how to properly take care of it and you will need to come back in about a week or so to have the stitches removed. No needles," the doctor assured her when he saw the look in her eyes, seconds later he was out of the room so he could see the next patient waiting for care.

"Can you stand," Roy asked her.

"Uh, I think so," Kate answered, her voice shaky and weak. Attempting to put her feet on the ground and stand on her own, she managed to get upright before her knees gave out due to a combination of the painkillers and the stress she had put herself through because of her intense fear of needles. "Ok, maybe not," she said as she fell forward and into Roy's arms.

"You're hopeless," he sighed teasingly, holding her shoulders and steadying her so that he could stand up. "I'll carry you again, but don't get too used to it, alright?"

"It's not like I want to be carried in the first place, you know," she retorted, looking up at him only to realize that their faces were only inches apart. Her breath hitched in her throat and she felt her cheeks fill with color as she remembered that she had seen herself in several of his memories only moments before.

Something about the way her cheeks blushed as she looked up into his eyes, made Roy's mind go blank and before he could even think about his actions, he put a hand on her cheek and lowered his lips to hers. Kate's eyes widened, but she responded by wrapping an arm around his neck and pulling him closer to her, finding that she liked the warmth of his lips on hers, much to her surprise. Her response seemed to jolt Roy back to his senses and pulled away from Kate, who blinked in confusion as he turned his gaze away from her as if he were ashamed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Of course you didn't, I'm just your subordinate right," Kate replied quickly and with a note of hurt that made her wince when she heard it in her own voice. "I want to go home now."

Sighing and chastising himself for hurting her, Roy went to loop an arm around her petite waist to help her walk since she as rather wobbly on her own.

Swatting his hand away from her, Kate didn't even look at him. "I can walk on my own," she said stiffly.

Mentally smacking himself in the head for being an idiot and having let himself get lost in the moment of having her in his arms, he walked after Kate, prepared to catch her if her knees gave out on her again, which they looked about to do. For someone who claimed to be so great with women, he had a tendency to tick off the one that was stubbornly getting her discharge papers from the nurse and avoiding his eyes at all costs. He didn't want to admit it, but he liked her and he liked her a lot more than he was willing to admit. Her response led him to believe she felt something for him too and it made a proud smirk take residence on his face until Kate was done at the nurse's station and turned to leave without looking at him. Sighing, the smirk disappeared and he followed after the petite girl.

"Are you going to look at me, or just ignore me the entire drive back to your apartment," Roy asked when they climbed into his car and Kate turned her head to stare out her window. "I made you angry," he observed when she continued to ignore him.

"What makes you think that," she asked, emotionlessly.

"Seeing as how you're not actually yelling at me, I don't have much proof, but you are, aren't you?"

She sighed and after a moment, shook her head. "No, I'm not angry. I'm just tired and I still have a lot of homework to do."

"About earlier, I-"

"Don't worry about it," Kate cut in, not wanting to hear whatever excuse he was going to give her. For a second she had lost herself in his embrace and had allowed herself to think that maybe, just maybe, there could be a chance that the man kissing her really liked her because apparently she liked him a lot more than she had realized. She was good at brushing off her own feelings and emotions, but she was beginning to see how that could be a problem and she understood now that it was probably better to face her feelings so that she could deal with them and get over them. Move on in a sense. "It was nothing."

Glancing over at her, he noticed the loneliness in her gold eyes and chose to remain silent and not make her any more upset than she obviously already was. It wasn't until he walked her to her door and she was about to shut it on him with a muttered thank you, that he decided he didn't want to see that look in her eyes anymore than he wanted to be the cause of it. Sticking his foot in the way of the door and pushing it open much Kate's surprise, he walked up to her, making her take a few unsteady steps back in her confusion before his hands were on her shoulders to keep her in place.

"It wasn't nothing," he told her honestly, looking her in the eyes unflinchingly. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"It's a little late for that," Kate sighed. "But don't worry about it, I have more important things to worry about than one meaningless kiss."

"For what it's worth, I am sorry."

Kate waved off the apology, backing out of his grasp to turn her back on him and walk to her bathroom. "Don't worry about it," she said dismissively. "Shut the door on your way out, will you please?"

Roy frowned at her back as she disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind her. He had never expected for Kate to kiss him back, he had thought she could barely stand him. Apparently he had been wrong and he knew that he had likely just ruined whatever friendship they had had.

* * *

He had been right, not that he was surprised.

Throughout the next several days, Kate barely said a word a him, looked at him or came anywhere near him unless she absolutely had to. She acted the same towards everyone else, but that didn't stop them from realizing how she was acting towards him. She was doing her duties as his secretary and nothing more, she was all calm and cool business. Hughes' wedding was that weekend and he and Kate were both leaving the next day after she got out of class, he somehow thought the weekend was going to be very interesting... and quiet.

"What did you do this time Colonel," Breda asked conversationally, after Kate had left to deliver a stack of papers to the appropriate departments. He was at the far corner of the table set out in front of Roy's, his arms folded over his brawny chest as he lifted a brow curiously at his superior, ignoring the stacks of papers he had in front of himself.

"Nothing," Roy answered dismally.

"Right," Havoc drawled. "Kate hasn't threatened you this week, she's hardly even spoken to you and you expect us to believe you didn't do anything?"

"Shut up Havoc," Roy sighed, scribbling his signature on yet another document and trying to ignore the stares he was getting from all five people in the room who had abandoned their work to interrogate him.

"You know you could say you're sorry," Hawkeye suggested casually.

"Yeah, apologize to her," Havoc agreed, nodding his head for extra emphasis.

Roy ignored them, putting all of his attention into his paperwork. The more he got done, the less time Kate would spend staring at him coldly, waiting for him to finish so she could deliver it.

"It depends on what he did," Falman added thoughtfully. "Knowing the Colonel it could be quite bad and a simple apology might not be enough."

"He could get her flowers," Fuery offered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Or chocolates, women like chocolate," Havoc put in.

"That's all meaningless to a woman. If he really screwed up, then he should-"

"Would you guys shut up," Roy barked, cutting off Hawkeye as he looked up to glare at the people in the room. "And if you must know, I did apologize."

"Just what did you do to begin with to make her so upset," Havoc asked.

"None of your business."

"You didn't buy her a miniskirt or something did you," Breda asked blandly.

"No," Roy answered shortly. "Just drop it."

"It's sure going to be awkward," Havoc mused.

"What," Fuery inquired.

"The wedding is this weekend and Hughes forced the Colonel and Kate to go together."

"You mean as a date," Fuery replied.

"Yup, as a date," Havoc answered, a smirk on his lips as he watched Roy's head fall ever so slightly and the man groaned dramatically.

"Maybe that's why she's mad. I wouldn't want to be forced to go on a date with a womanizer like him either," Breda commented dryly.

"But the Colonel likes her, maybe if he just came clean and told her that, then-"

"I kissed her. Happy!" Roy snapped, making Havoc's jaw drop and everyone else to turn their full attention to him.

"You... kissed her," Havoc repeated slowly.

"Yes. I kissed Kate."

"Then what happened," he asked curiously.

"Well...."

"What did you do," Hawkeye questioned pointedly, her eyes narrowing.

"I sort of stopped and told her I was sorry and...what?" He asked when everyone in the room shook their heads at him and Hawkeye sighed.

"You don't just kiss a girl and tell her you're sorry. You're supposed to be better with women than this, shouldn't you know that," Breda replied.

"Yeah, but he actually likes Kate, even if he won't admit it," Havoc commented.

"What else did you do," Hawkeye inquired.

"I told her it wasn't nothing but that I didn't want her to get hurt."

"You're hopeless," Havoc sighed.

There were mutters of agreements throughout the room, several nods and several disapproving head shakes.

"Thanks for the help guys," Roy muttered, hanging his head.

"You know if you really liked her, you would explain yourself to her. Tell her the reasons why you don't want to get involved in an actual relationship, she deserves to know. It's better than letting her continue to be confused," Hawkeye said.

"She might understand," Havoc added.

"Or she might just smack him for thinking she can't protect herself," Breda pointed out.

"True."

Roy slumped back in his chair, knowing that Hawkeye was right, she usually was, not that he'd ever tell her that, but it was true. He needed to talk to Kate, leaving things as they were was just not going to work. She deserved to know why he had kissed her and why he didn't want to admit that he liked her. It seemed everyone else was already aware he liked her and that they knew him well enough to know what was going on in his head, but that didn't make the thought of talking to Kate and actually getting her to listen to him sound any more appealing.

* * *

Hello! I'm still sick, yay! And I'm getting worse, yay again! Ok anyways, I'm hoping this chapter maade sense because to be honest I wrote it while not only sick and not feeling well, but on medication, so yeah.... Just a quick note to those of you reading my other stories, I have not abandoned anything, I'm just not feeling all that great and can't focus on anything and unfortunately I have to try and work through all of it, and let me tell you that's not going so well. So expect a short delay in updates for a week or so, possibly longer since I have to work two weeks straight starting the 8th, as long as I'm not in the hospital anyway. Hmm, that was a depressing thought, sorry, instead lets all think of what Ed would look like in a little frilly pink dress and the look that would be on Roy's face as he dances around like a monkey. Ok, I feel better now.

Thank you to--- Black Claided Cat, fmafan, pudding rox lloyd asplunds sox, XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX, Miyuki Meiru, Princesa de la Luna for reviewing!

Please review! Thank you!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA, darn.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Anger Management, Sort of**

Roy was actually on time for once, surprising everyone in the office when he walked in with a cocky smile and took a seat at his desk, but of course just because he was there on time didn't mean he was going to do anything but sit at his desk and try his luck at a crossword puzzle from the day's paper.

"So," Havoc began conversationally. "You fix things with Kate?"

"Something like that," Roy replied with a smirk.

"Right," Havoc said slowly, watching Roy closely before glancing back at Breda who just shrugged and then to Hawkeye who was staring narrow eyed at Roy. At least he wasn't the only one who was suspicious as to why the man diligently working on a crossword seemed so...happy.

It was just a few minutes later, while Roy was working on his third answer that the door to the office crashed open and Kate walked in, thirty minutes before her scheduled shift. She had her school bag with her since she had class after work and she unceremoniously dropped the bag to the floor just inside the door with a loud thunk.

"Hey Kate, you're early today," Havoc commented only to be ignored as Kate advanced on Roy, walking around his desk so that she was right next to his chair.

"Hold on, I'm almost done," Roy said as he wrote in another answer. Truthfully, he just didn't want to look up at her, she was mad and she wasn't just a little mad either, judging by the way her fists were currently tightly clenched at her sides and how quickly she had walked to his desk and the heat he could swear he felt rolling off her told him she was beyond angry, possibly livid. And just who had made Kate mad? Well he had of course and that was all the more reason to avoid eye contact so that he didn't burst into flames once he looked into the blazing golden eyes that were burning a hole in the top of his skull.

Grabbing his pen from his hand and throwing it with enough force to actually embed it in the wall to her left, Kate waited until Roy looked up at her with a frown to do something no one had quite expected. She slapped him.

Roy's frown was gone in a split second, replaced by unadulterated surprise. He knew she was mad at him, but he never expected to be slapped.

Havoc's jaw dropped, his cigarette falling from his lips and onto his lap, but he hardly noticed. Breda, Fuery, Falman and Hawkeye were all just as surprised and openly gaped at Kate who was angrily staring down at Roy.

"What the hell was that for," Roy managed to ask as he blinked up at Kate.

"For kissing me," she snapped. "The first time! And by first time, I mean at the hospital not my apartment last night!"

Needless to say all jaws dropped further.

"Aw, come on-"

Roy didn't get further than that when Kate slapped him again before putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "And that's for showing up at my apartment last night and practically attacking me when I opened the door-"

"I didn't attack you, I kissed you," Roy put in matter of factly with a nod to emphasize his point.

"You attacked me! I didn't know what the hell was going on, I had just opened the damn door and next thing I know you're kissing me! You don't just kiss a girl one day, tell her you're sorry and then show up on her doorstep the next day and kiss her with no explanation."

"That was going to be after the kiss, but you slammed the door in my face. And spent the next hour ignoring me and yelling every so often," Roy replied.

"What did you expect," Kate cried in exasperation. "You made it seem like the end of the world when you kissed me at the hospital and you couldn't even look at me yesterday at work. Then you show up at my apartment and freaking kiss me and the only thing you could do at the time was smirk like a kid in a candy shop. I'm not a toy, I have emotions and I don't like them to be played with, keep your hands to yourself from now on. I don't care about your explanations either, I have other things to focus on besides some stuck up jerk who doesn't know what he wants. I'll be downstairs in the gym if you need me, although I highly suggest you send someone else to get me, there's sharp objects down there and one of them might accidentally bury itself in your thick skull."

The room fell silent as Kate stalked back to her bag, picked it up and left the room with everyone's eyes on her back. Once she was out of earshot, Hawkeye turned to Roy who was openly frowning and staring at the door.

"You're an idiot," she said blandly.

"Thanks," Roy replied sarcastically.

Kate spent the majority of her morning in the gym, running laps, lifting weights, and even training with a few of the enlisted male officers who were eager to fight an attractive girl they thought they could over power. Unfortunately for them, Kate in a bad was a force to be reckoned with and by the time she headed to the showers, there were quite a few black eyes, bloody noses and altogether beaten up men sulkily sitting around the gym or doing their work.

After seeing the damage Kate had done while getting a cup of coffee, Roy figured it would be best to stay far, far away from her for the time being until she cooled off. She walked into the cafeteria just as he was about to walk out with his coffee and a danish, she smiled and waved at several of the people she knew, but when her eyes landed on him her smile vanished and was replaced by a scowl.

"Who knew you could actually do something for yourself. I guess an old dog can learn new tricks," she said haughtily as she brushed past him to get a bottle of water and a granola bar.

Sighing, Roy went back to his office and wisely kept his mouth shut and his hands to himself for the entire day while Kate diligently did her work without a single word to him before getting ready to leave for class.

"I was so pissed off this morning that I forgot to pack, I had plenty of time to do it since I couldn't sleep after your little visit. Anyways, just pick me up at my apartment a little after nine and I should be ready," Kate said, not bothering to look at Roy who she was addressing as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

"You're not going to try to kill me, are you?" Roy asked.

She threw him a cold look. "I can't, yet anyways. We both agreed that we'd go to the wedding together, as a date, and if I kill you, I can't go now can I?"

"No I suppose not," Roy answered lamely. "See you at nine."

Kate grunted in reply before turning and leaving, slamming the door shut behind her.

"You know you have to fix this, right," Hawkeye asked, crossing her arms over her just and sighing as she leaned into the chair she was in, closest to Roy's desk.

"Yeah, she beat up about half of the enlisted members this morning and she's got less training than all of them," Havoc said, lighting another cigarette.

"I was already scared of her," Fuery commented meekly.

"For such a small girl, she sure can pack a punch," Breda nodded.

"The adrenaline from her anger helped with that, she probably wouldn't get the same results if she weren't angry," Falman pointed out.

"Well whatever it was, she beat the crap out of half our men. Hope you have a plan Colonel because things aren't looking too good for you right now," Havoc said.

"I'm aware of that," Roy replied crossly.

"Talk to her," Hawkeye told him. "And try actually talking to her Colonel, don't kiss her, don't touch her, just talk to her."

With a sigh, Roy let his head fall onto his desk with a dull thud.

* * *

Kate wasn't surprised by the fact that Roy was on his best behavior when he came to pick her up at her apartment. He carried her bag, opened doors for her, smiled charmingly at her and didn't even look at the group of scantily clad women that were walking through the train station, giggling like a bunch of hyenas, when they arrived.

Once on the train, which was oddly full for as late as it was, Kate had no choice but to sit beside Roy since the cabin they were in was mostly full. They had chosen to ride one of the business class cars, the seats were a bit more comfortable and it only cost a few cenz more. She took the seat nearest the window and smiled wanly at the older woman across from her who returned her small smile with a nod of acknowledgement.

The trip was going to take several hours and as tired as she was after the day she had had, Kate was asleep minutes after the train left East City. Her head was tilted back on to the cushions of the seat, but after a small jolt she partially awoke and shifted her position to get comfortable again. When she couldn't seem to find a good position, she gave up with a weary sigh and instead chose to look out the window. It was too dark to see much, but it was better than nothing.

Seeing just how tired Kate was and how she kept nodding off every few minutes only to wake up when her head would rest upon the cold glass of the jostling window, Roy felt a little bad. He hadn't meant to make her so angry the night before, but he had no idea what to say when she had opened her door and just kissed her without thinking. That was probably not the best way to try and fix things with her, but he had been at a loss when she opened the door in a pair of red shorts and a matching red tank top with her long hair falling over her shoulders. He honestly had planned on actually talking, but he just hadn't been capable of it at that moment.

"Hey," he leaned over to say quietly to Kate who had jolted awake again when the train had begun to slow to make a stop at the next station.

"Hmm," she hummed, turning to face him and blinking tiredly at him.

"Switch with me," he told her, standing up and waving her over to the seat he had just vacated when she just stared at him. "Move."

Grumbling something under her breath, Kate scooted over and let Roy take the window seat. She pulled her knees up onto the bench and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on her knees she attempted to go back to sleep. Instead she found herself being pulled into a warm body and an arm wrapping around her.

"What the are you-"

"Be quiet. You can be mad at me later, but for now why don't you give us both some peace and go to sleep," Roy interrupted.

She was going to protest, but she was too tired to really care and besides, she was actually quite comfortable resting against his chest. With a mumbled, "whatever" and a yawn Kate fell back to sleep and didn't wake again until she felt a strange feeling, as if she were floating, but not. She realized that someone must have been carrying, she tried to open her eyes to protest and say that she could very well walk on her own, but she was just too tired and instead turned her head into the chest of the person carrying her to block out the bright glow of the lights above them from bothering her and fell back to sleep.

"She must have been pretty tired," Hughes chuckled as Kate frowned at the light that was shining brightly into her face before turning her head into Roy's chest.

"Well she should be. She took on half the men at HQ and won every fight," Roy replied.

"Impressive. Was there some sort of testing or something?"

"Nope. She was just really mad."

"So what did you do," Hughes asked.

"Why would you assume I did anything," Roy snapped bitterly.

Hughes adjusted his glasses while smiling knowingly at his best friend. "Because you seem to have knack for making her mad."

Roy sighed. "Yeah, I've noticed."

"So what happened," Hughes pressed.

"I kissed her."

"And that's what made her mad," Hughes asked not quite believing that would have been quite enough to make her angry enough to take on half the men at East HQ.

"Not the first time," Roy answered.

"Uh huh."

"She was upset, I don't know that she was mad. I told her I was sorry, I hadn't meant to just kiss her out of the blue. She took it differently than I had meant for her too and the entire following day she wouldn't talk to me, look at me, anything. I went to talk to her yesterday, but well, I just kissed her instead. She slammed the door on me after that and wouldn't talk to me. She slapped me twice today."

Hughes shook his head and chuckled as he put his hands in his pockets. "You really like her, don't you?" Looking at the frown that took up residence on Roy's face, Hughes continued without waiting for an answer. "You know it's alright to have a real love life and not just make it look like you do."

"My love life is fine, thanks," Roy replied before sighing and lowering his head to look at Kate. "Besides, she'll only get hurt in the end if she gets involved with me."

"Then why did you ask her to work for you? You had to have known then that just working for you would be dangerous."

"I told her that and she agreed to work for me, to help me anyways."

"Then what's the problem Roy? She may not known about just what she was getting involved with, but maybe you should tell her. You might just be surprised about the reaction you'll get."

"Maybe."

* * *

Kate stirred at the sound of voices arguing quietly above her. Fluttering her eyes open, she realized that she was still in Roy's arms and while not that happy about it, she didn't do anything to remove herself from his grip. "What's going on," she mumbled tiredly.

"Hey sleeping beauty, you're awake," Hughes greeted cheerily, leaning over to smile at her and make her cringe further into Roy's arms at the unexpected and sudden closeness.

"It's just a problem with our rooms. It looks like we're going to have to share," Roy told her, answering her previous question.

"Oh...Wait what?" She questioned, squinting up at him in the brightness of the hotel lobby.

"Someone," Roy said, pointedly looking over at Hughes who was now busy examining a plant on the counter and whistling to himself. "Only reserved one room, with one bed and they're sold out."

Taking a second to let the words sink in before pushing against Roy's chest to make him loosen his hold on her so she could stand on her own two feet, wobbling slightly as she did so, she turned to Hughes and put her hands on her hips.

Hughes, feeling the heat of her glare on him, chuckled nervously and scratched at the back of his head embarrassingly. "It was a mistake. Honest."

"Ugh, whatever," Kate sighed, running a hand through her. "Is there at least a couch?"

"Y-yes ma'am," the young man behind the desk squeaked when Kate looked at him expectantly.

"Then you can sleep there," Kate said blandly to Roy. "Problem solved, let's go, I'm tired."

* * *

This chapter was kinda lame...Next one will be better, promise.

Anyways thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, you all rock and deserve cookies! The hotel I work for has a bunch left over from a convention thing, they're yummy.

Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Five Little Words**

Kate exhaled deeply, annoyed by the constant tossing and turning of Roy who was trying to get comfortable on the couch and apparently was failing miserably and keeping her awake. Being grumpy and tired and determined to ignore him, Kate rolled over and closed her eyes to attempt to go to sleep.

Several minutes later, she sat up with an annoyed grunt. "Oh for heaven's sake, I can't sleep with all the noise you're making."

"Sorry," Roy muttered blankly.

Kate sighed, she was beginning to feel a little bad for how she was treating him, especially since he sounded truly sorry for being uncomfortable, something she was well aware he couldn't help. Letting her head loll back for a moment, she closed her eyes and took a calming breath before raising her head and reopening her eyes. "If you so much as touch me, I will not hesitate to make plant food out of you."

"What are you talking about," Roy asked in confusion, lifting his head from his pillow to stare at her.

"If you promise to behave yourself and keep your distance, there's plenty of room left on the bed," she grumbled before plopping herself back down and rolling on to her side.

The room was completely silent for a few seconds while Roy thought over what she said, debating about whether or not the offer was some sort of trick. Deciding he didn't really care and that he'd take his chances, he got up, taking the blanket he had over him along with him and laying atop the sheets on the bed.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"Welcome," Kate replied disinterestedly, adjusting her pillow.

* * *

It was several hours later that Kate was roused from her sleep by Roy who was tossing and turning in the bed beside her. Her first instinct was to reach over and smack him, but when she peeked open a golden eye to look at him in annoyance, she noticed he was still asleep. Lifting her head from her pillow to peer at him in concern, she noticed that there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead and his face was distorted into a grimace as his head tossed from side to side.

She pushed herself up, not sure what to do, in his constant moving, he had knocked the sheets off of himself and since she was leery of coming into direct contact with him for fear that she'd see just what was causing a him, a grown man, to have nightmares, since she was sure it had to do with his past and his time in Ishbal. She had already seen enough of his time there the first time she had touched him, she didn't really want to relive it.

"Roy," she asked quietly, hoping that would be enough to wake him.

When it wasn't, she frowned and carefully reached her right hand towards his shoulder trying not to touch anything but the fabric of his white shirt. The second her fingers came into contact with him, his eyes snapped open and his hand shot out to grab a hold of her wrist, twisting it painfully as he sat up and forced her back down on to the bed,

She screamed, not only had he frightened her, but his fingers were wrapped around the bare skin of her wrist. Her eyes squeezed shut as images flew threw her head much faster than she could comprehend, but they all had several things in common. There was blood everywhere and the smell or burning and rotten flesh, these things stood out in Roy's mind to the point that Kate wanted retch.

"Kate," Roy said in shock, pulling his hand from her throat and staring down at her with guilt and concern written all over his face. "Are you-"

She pushed herself off the bed, putting her right hand to her mouth as she ran to the bathroom, her feet thumping against the flooring. She didn't shut the door, just flipped the light switch on before kneeling over the toilet and vomiting as tears poured her cheeks. Wrapping her arms around her stomach as she heaved, Kate couldn't stop the visions from playing over and over in her mind and the scent of the desert that was mixed with the scent of the dead, the stench of their blood and decaying flesh wouldn't leave her.

"Kate," Roy asked, coming up behind her and reaching a hand out to her.

"Don't touch me," she snapped roughly, her voice more fear filled than angry as she glanced at him over her shaking shoulder.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"I know that," Kate cut in raggedly. "Just...I need a minute please."

Roy left the bathroom without a word, pausing at the door to look back at Kate. She looked so broken and small as she put a hand over her eyes as if to block out the things she didn't want to see, the things she should never had had to see.

She stayed were she was on the cold tile of the bathroom for several minutes, letting her stomach settle down as she tried to push all thoughts from her mind. Reaching up to flush the toilet before shakily standing up to place both hands on the counter over the sink, Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath, breathing through her mouth to avoid smelling the smell of the dead that still haunted Roy. Even though she knew that it was all in her head, there wasn't much else she could, it was all too real for Roy and now it was for her too. Forcing an unsteady hand to turn on the cold water so that she could wash her face and brush her teeth.

When she finally walked out of the bathroom, Roy was sitting on the couch and there was an open bottle of whiskey on the table. Two glasses sat in front of the bottle, each with a decent amount of the light brown liquor in them. She didn't say anything, just walked forward to sit on the couch, bringing her knees into her chest and wrapping her arms around them to rest her forehead on the soft fabric of her brown pajama pants.

"Here," Roy coaxed gently.

Kate shifted enough so that she could see the glass he was holding out to her through her hair. She eyed it warily for a moment but then sighed and took the glass from him without meeting his eyes, their fingers brushed against each other and Roy stiffened, quickly removing his hand from the glass.

"Please don't do that," she said quietly, studying the whiskey in the glass that she was holding by her knees. "It's bad enough that I have to spend every moment of my life trying to not touch people, but to have people not want to touch me..."

"I don't want to make you upset by making you see som-"

"You don't get it," Kate snapped tiredly. "You didn't make me see anything, I can't control when I'll see something or what I'll see so what makes you think you could?"

"I..I'm sorry, I just-"

Kate cut him off by lifting her glass to him and downing the whiskey in one gulp. She squeezed her eyes shut as the alcohol burned its way down her throat and into her stomach, shaking her head once as if to get rid of the bitter taste that it left on her tongue.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Roy...just don't pull away like you're scared of me. You have no idea how lonely it gets not being able to touch people because I don't want to see something from their pasts. Their pasts are theirs, not mine and I shouldn't be allowed to see that, but I do. The only people I've never been afraid to touch are my brothers now, I used to sit with them whenever I saw something that wasn't particularly nice and just hold their hands or stroke their hair...They're still so young that they have yet to see anything that will scar them and it would be so nice to just touch them and see nothing or see them playing with Winry, nothing scary, nothing but happy memories."

"Whenever you touch me, you never see anything happy though and I don't want you to have to see the things I've done or been a part of," Roy replied.

"To be honest, I haven't seen much when I've touched you..And what I have seen hasn't been all bad," Kate said, remembering when he had held her at the hospital only days before and how she had seen herself in his memories. "You watch me a lot, don't you? Why?"

Roy started at the question nearly spitting out the whiskey he was in the process of swallowing. After coughing a few times, he turned to her, his face bright red but whether it was from embarrassment or from choking, Kate wasn't sure.

"I....uh...."

"Never mind," she muttered under her breath, setting her empty glass on the table.

"Let me see your arm."

Kate looked at Roy in confusion, but slowly held her right arm out to him. Her wrist was slightly swollen and tender and there were several small bruises from where his fingers had dug into her flesh. He frowned as he reached a hand towards her.

"It's alright," Kate assured him.

Gently putting a hand under her elbow, Roy felt around her wrist and traced the outlines of the brusises that were starting to form on her skin.

"It's just swollen, but nothing's out of place. At least it wasn't the other one, I might have opened the stitches if it had been. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know that Roy." She pulled her hand from his grasp and wrapped it around her legs again.

Sighing, Roy scratched at his head and looked over at Kate. She was staring at the glass she had set down, her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on one knee. Her gold eyes were distant and so lonely that he felt a twinge of guilt for having been the one to put that look there. Frowning, Roy reached over and put a hand on Kate's shoulder, she turned to look at him in confusion and all he did was smile before pulling her to his chest.

"What are you-"

"You look lonely," Roy answered before she had the chance to finish her question.

She opened her mouth to reply and tell him she was just fine, but she found herself not wanting to leave the comforting hold of his arms and instead she relaxed and loosely clutched onto his shirt as her shoulders started to shake again.

"Kate?" He asked worriedly.

"I...I can't make the images go away....And....the smell," she whispered hoarsely.

Roy's eyes widened, he had no idea how much she had seen, but for her to actually be so shaken and to have smelled the same scent that always haunted his dreams made him hold her tighter. He was a grown man, a soldier who had come to terms with having to kill people, and the dreams still terrorized him, she was just an innocent girl who had never seen nor had to deal first hand with the effects of war.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that, Kate. You probably think I'm a monster," Roy said softly.

She shook her head, sniffling and trying to wipe the tears from her eyes to look up at him. "I don't think you're a monster, you shouldn't think that either. You're a fool if you do."

"I thought you thought I was a fool anyway," Roy commented, attempting to try and lighten the rather bleak mood.

"Eh," she shrugged noncommittally, laying her head back onto his shoulder and snuggling closer to him.

"Make yourself comfortable, why don't you," he teased.

"I will thanks," Kate replied, her voice had almost returned to normal, it didn't seem so weak and small now.

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"Yeah, but you're really comfortable. I'll still be mad later, don't worry."

"Do you have to be mad, it's kind of scary," Roy pointed out.

"If you would stop kissing me for no reason then maybe I wouldn't be mad so much."

"It wasn't for no reason Kate," he said seriously.

She sighed, she wasn't really in the mood to talk right now, she just wanted to go back to sleep and forget about the things she had seen.

Roy hesitated when she didn't say anything, but figured he owed her an explanation and seeing as how she was huddled against him, now might be a good time for that. He took a few minutes to think about what he wanted say, watching her the entire time as she laid peacefully against him, her eyes closed and color starting to return to her cheeks that had been so pale only a few minutes ago. It was hard for him to remember why he didn't want to just ask her to be his at that moment, but then the logical part of his brain reminded him that it was because he never wanted to see her hurt and being close to him would put her in harms way in the future. His thoughts began to veer from trying to figure out what to say to her to make her understand that he didn't want to put her in a position where she would be in danger to more selfish thoughts, like why he still couldn't have her at his side anyway. An internal debate started within him then and he had no idea what he wanted anymore.

He wanted Kate, but he didn't want her to get hurt. He wanted to protect her and be there for her, but he knew that at times that would be impossible. He wanted to hold her and never let her go, but that wasn't fair to her if he wasn't willing to give her what she deserved. The more he thought about things, the more confused he got until Hughes' voice randomly popped into his head.

"If you keep looking at her like that, people will start to think you're in love with her," his friend had said in the car on the way to the hotel while he had been holding Kate in his arms and staring at her face without really realizing it.

Roy's brows knit together and his face became thoughtful as he blinked down at the girl in his arms, she was asleep from the looks of it and she looked absolutely exquisite even if her hair was a bit of a mess and her eyes were red rimmed from her crying. 'There's no way,' he thought to himself. 'Absolutely no way I'm in love with Kate.' He was quite adamant about it, nodding as if to reiterate his point to himself. Only in nodding he had caught a whiff of the light earthy scent that was Kate and probably her shampoo and his resolve faltered. She smelled like rain, or more precisely, the few minutes before it rained. 'Stop it, you're not in love with Kate. Stupid Hughes, this is his fault. You don't even really know Kate....There's always time to get to know her later.' He cut his thoughts off with several choice curses muttered under his breath, stopping when Kate fidgeted.

Some of her hair had fallen into her face, hiding it from view and without thinking about, Roy brushed it aside, letting his fingertips glide lightly over her skin that was so soft. He cut his thoughts off again before his eyes were drawn to her lips. His fingers traced her cheek before resting beneath her chin, they sat there for a moment before he gently tilted her head up.

Kate stirred, blinking her eyes open to see what was going on. "Roy?"

"I'm in love with you."

All she could do was blink at him, she wasn't really sure what to think and as it was she was having a hard time trying to think at all. "What," she finally managed to ask.

He didn't say anything, instead he lowered his lips to hers and he kissed her tenderly. At first Kate froze, she didn't know what to do or how to respond, but then a part of her mind screamed at her to kiss him back and she did, closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You realize you have a lot of explaining to do, right," she said breathlessly, temporarily separating their lips.

"Later," Roy answered dismissively, capturing her lips again.

She didn't even bother to argue, she had been so mad at him for toying with her emotions when he didn't even know what he wanted from her, but it seemed he had figured that out finally and she didn't entirely mind. She had already admitted to herself that she was attracted to him and the first time he had kissed had made her realize that there was much more than just attraction there. He was an amazing person, when he wasn't being lazy anyway. Not to mention being in his arms felt so incredibly right and kissing him was downright mind blowing.

It was while they would pause to catch their breath that Roy explained why he hadn't wanted to start up a relationship with Kate. He liked her in a way that he had never liked any other woman and he had been happy just dating a different girl every week, but then she came along and he fell head over heels without meaning to and not entirely wanting to. He hadn't wanted her to get hurt because of him, which she had not so nicely smacked him over the head for before yelling at him for being a contradictory jerk. She didn't see how he could say that he didn't want to put her in danger because he liked her when he had told her from the start that just being his secretary could be dangerous and she had willing accepted that position even while aware of that fact.

On top of that, she didn't see how it was fair to anyone else that supported him, they were going to be in danger too so how was it alright for them to be in danger, but not her. She wound up smacking him again after that for thinking that she couldn't take care of herself and then pointing out to him that he had made her a promise.

"You promised to protect me and those below you right?"

"Yes."

"Then keep your word."

"I plan on it."

"Then what's the problem Roy? I know you're afraid I'll be used against you, but anyone of the many people who support you can be used against you, not just me. Let's just see what happens, take everything one day at a time, ok?"

"You mean you'll go out with me?" Roy asked, he seemed surprised as he spoke.

Kate sighed dramatically. "Sure. You're good looking and you can be a gentleman, besides I'll totally be dating my boss, that's got to count for something, right," she replied lightly with a chuckle.

"It just means that I can't flirt at the office anymore- Ow!"

"Sorry my hand slipped," Kate said with a yawn, curling into his side comfortably.

* * *

"Are you almost ready, we're going to be late," Roy called, adjusting the collar of his uniform before picking up his bright white gloves from the dresser and pulling them on.

"Well maybe if someone hadn't kept me up half the night because he couldn't keep his lips to himself, I wouldn't have been so tired that I didn't hear the alarm and would have had more time to get ready," Kate snapped from the bathroom where she was currently busy trying to curl the ends of her hair into loose ringlets.

"It's not my fault I'm irresistible."

Kate snorted. "Right, which is why I was able to say that I wanted to go to bed and you started to whine," she retorted, setting aside the curling iron and turning her head from side to side to make sure she was satisfied. Nodding when she was, she reached for the knee length red dress that was hanging from the towel rack behind her, slipped out of the towel she had secured around her and slipped it on, zipping the back with only a little difficulty before grabbing the black heels she would be wearing and making her way out of the bathroom, hopping comically as she tried to put the heels on while she walked to the bed where there was a black cardigan and a pair of both black and nude colored gloves.

Roy couldn't keep his eyes off her as she pulled on the black, cropped cardigan, pulling her long hair from the confines of it. Her dress was a deep red, strapless dress that looked as if it were multiple layers of fabric and it fit her body snugly in all the right places. She was wearing her make up simply, as usual, only her eyeshadow was a bit darker than usual and her lips were painted with a red lipstick instead of just a gloss. She still looked tired though, you could see it in her eyes and the way she would sometimes stop and stare at nothing told him that she was still shaken up about what she had seen the night before. He snapped out of his appreciative daze when he noticed the frown on her face as she stared at the two pairs of gloves on the bed.

"Wear the black ones, if you get warm and take off your sweater, it won't seem odd that you're wearing the black ones," he said.

"Oh, right. Thanks," she replied, grabbing the black gloves only, to roll her eyes and peel the cardigan off so that she could pull on the gloves that would reach to just below her elbows. She pulled the cardigan back again, dusted herself off and turned to Roy. "So how do I look?"

"Like you're going to make me a very jealous man," Roy replied. "And how do I look?"

"As arrogant and stuck up as usual," she replied sweetly, cocking her head to the side to smile lopsidedly at him. "And you have nothing to get jealous about. I don't really have time for one boyfriend, let alone two." She smirked playfully when Roy glowered at her for teasing him.

"Now that I think about it we never really decided that you were my girlfriend, you just sort of decided that on your own," Roy teased, walking towards her as she scowled at him jokingly. "I might however be willing to come to a compromise if you kiss me."

"Oh really?"

"Yup," Roy said with a nod, wrapping his arms around her waist as she smirked up at him.

"Hmm. You sure do drive a hard bargain," she sighed before leaning up to kiss him.

"Can't we just stay here and I can kiss you all day," Roy asked, smiling charmingly at her.

"Nope. Hughes would have a fit, a real one and I don't want to see that," Kate replied, shaking her head and grimacing at the thought.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be pretty," Roy agreed.

"Come on," Kate said, kissing his cheek before breaking free of his arms and heading for the door. "You can kiss me later."

"Promise?"

"Promise, but you have to dance with me at the wedding," she chirped, winking at him as she skipped out the door.

"I think that sounds fair," he mumbled to himself before following after her.

* * *

Hope you liked this one. I've been having problems with my laptop and unfortunately had to restore factoary settings, which I don't think fixed the problem, but anyways I ended up losing some other stuff that was meant for this chapter. The scenes were a bit different, but no major changes, I just like the some of the other material better.

I'm also not sure how I feel about this chapter. It was time for Kate and Roy to get together, because...well it just is, but I'm not very good at transitioning from friendship to more than that, so hopefully this was ok and everyone was in character and this chapter didn't stink. I'm also thinking I want to up the rating for later, but I'm not sure, so just keep that in mind please. And I'm not necessarily referring to mature content, parts might get a little...messy...

Please, please review, I'm dying to know what everyone thinks and I promise that there will be much more Ed and Al later in the story, but right now they're just not important to the story line I've got going. Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer-I don't own FMA

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Chance Encounter**

"Hmm, well either this is one heck of a coincidence or we're being played for fools," Kate said mirthfully as she looked at the bouquet of pink and white roses that were on the table in front of her. "What do you think," she asked, turning her attention to Roy who was frowning at the pink and white lace of the garter he'd set on the table.

"I think that Hughes is having too much fun trying to play matchmaker," he grumbled, sending a scathing look to his best friend.

Kate started laughing when she saw Hughes wave energetically and give them the thumbs up.

"Oh, stop scowling," she said, smacking Roy lightly on the shoulder. "It's just a silly superstition that whoever catches the bouquet and the garter will be the next people to get married. Besides, who would actually want to marry you?"

"Plenty of people," he replied arrogantly.

"Uh huh. Like who?"

He raised a brow as he turned his head towards her. "Like I'm going to tell you, you have jealousy issues."

"Why you.." She smacked him again before standing up. "We'll see who has jealousy issues."

"Where are you going," Roy asked quickly, sitting up a little straighter as she smirked evilly at him.

"Oh, you know to find myself a dancing partner, there's plenty of really cute army guys here and did you know, most of 'em are single," she winked over her shoulder at him and began to gracefully walk away.

"Oh no you're not," Roy argued, standing up and following after her.

"And I'm the one with jealousy issues," she smirked, holding her hand out for him to take.

"Hey, we had a deal. I dance with you at the wedding and I'll get to kiss you later, I haven't forgotten," he replied, leading to the small dance floor just as the band began to play another song.

"You really are a pervert, you know that."

"I am not, I just have a healthy appetite."

"I can't believe you just said that, that's...disturbing."

"I'm only being honest and you call me disturbed, thanks," Roy said sarcastically.

"Anytime sweetheart," Kate grinned, winking at him playfully.

* * *

Most of the guests had left, it was dark outside of the windows that surrounded the banquet room, the moon was high in the sky and the stars twinkled brightly as soft music played and Kate and Roy danced on the dance floor alone. Kate had her arms tightly wrapped around Roy's neck and he in turn was holding her body against him, his arms around her waist as they stared up each other and swayed to the music.

They didn't notice that the newlywed couple was watching them, soft smiles on their faces as they watched the young couple on the dance floor.

"They look good together, don't they," Maes asked his wife, Gracia, lightly kissing her hand as he smiled at her.

"They do, he really likes her, doesn't he," Gracia replied.

"Yup, the fool just couldn't see that for himself. I'm glad he finally did though, Kate looks so happy."

Gracia laughed lightly. "She does, I'm glad the two came and it seems that you bribing the hotel to tell them they were full, paid off."

"I have no idea what you're talking about my beautiful wife."

"If you say so dear."

Kate stifled a yawn and rested her forehead against Roy's shoulder.

"Tired," Roy asked.

She nodded, yawning and crinkling her nose cutely.

"Then lets get you back to the hotel." Taking her hand, Roy led her from the dance floor and to the table they had sat at to gather their things.

Looping her arm through Roy's, Kate leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked over to Gracia and Maes to say their good byes for the evening. They would be meeting again the following morning for brunch before they had to return to East City and the Hughes' left for their little honeymoon in the countryside.

Instead of walking back to the hotel which was only a few blocks away, they hailed a taxi. The drive was short and Kate sighed happily when they walked into the hotel. She smiled at the front desk attendant as she laced her fingers through Roy's and they walked through the lobby to the elevators.

"I think I'm going to take a shower when we get to the room," Kate mused, tilting her head thoughtfully. "And no, you can't join," she said, shooting Roy a small, playful glare when he opened his mouth to speak.

"Am I really that predictable," he joked as they stepped out of the elevator and walked to their room.

"Well you are a pervert," Kate replied, winking at him before skipping to the bathroom to take her shower and change.

The shower relaxed her and her tired muscles and when she stepped out of the bathroom in her pajamas with her hair in a french braid she had every intention of sliding into bed and curling up next to Roy and enjoying a very peaceful night of sleep. Her plans changed however when she saw that Roy wasn't in bed, but on the couch. There was a bottle of wine on the table in front of him and a tray with a variety of miniature cakes on it. The room was only dimly lit by a few well placed candles, it was actually very romantic.

Not believing what she was seeing, Kate stood outside the bathroom and just blinked at Roy. She was sure that she was just so tired she was hallucinating, after all this was Roy she was dealing with and she didn't that he as capable of putting something so romantic together.

"Are you just going to stand there and stare or are you going to sit down," Roy asked, breaking the trance that Kate had fallen into.

Snapping out of her stupor, Kate walked to the couch and sat down. "What's all this?"

"This is me proving that I'm more than just a pervert," Roy answered, pouring her a glass of wine and handing it to her.

"It's very nice, thank you," she smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss.

He gave her a proud smirk that showed just how proud of himself he was for putting this all together. He wanted to remind her that she was supposed to make out with him since he had danced with her at the wedding, but decided that now was probably not the best time for that so he settled for staying quiet.

"I promised to kiss you and I did, so whatever you're thinking, Roy, I'd forget about it."

"I wasn't thinking anything," he replied innocently.

Kate tweaked a brow at him as she sipped her wine. "Uh huh, of course not."

"How did you know?"

"You had that perverted grin on your face again."

"You're ruining my fun," Roy grumbled.

Kate grinned at him before snuggling up next to him and leaning into his shoulder. "So this is Central City, huh? This is where the great Roy Mustang wants to be."

"Eventually, yes."

"I would think that there would be more paperwork here, Central _is_ much bigger than East City after all," Kate pointed out with a small grin.

"That's what I have you for," Roy replied, grinning self assuredly back at her.

Slapping his shoulder playfully, Kate glared at him, but couldn't help but laugh anyway. "What makes you think I'll still be running your errands for you? I do have a home to go back to and brothers to take care of."

"What about me, you have to take care of me too."

"Oh really, why is that?"

"Because I'm your good looking and loving boyfriend and you have a responsibility to take care of me. You know feed me and all."

"You tried to get me to do that as your secretary, it didn't work then, what makes you think it will work now," she asked.

He flashed her a charming smile. "Because you like me too much to let me starve."

"Don't be so sure of that," she mumbled under her breath as she took another sip of her wine.

"What?"

"Hm, oh nothing," she replied, innocently looking up at Roy with a blank expression.

* * *

"You're not going to wear any gloves," Roy asked as he watched Kate slip on a pair of black shoes.

"No," she answered, standing up and smoothing out the knee length black skirt she was wearing and adjusting the long sleeves of her smoky gray blouse.

"Are you sure-"

"Did you know that you're kind of creepy when you try to seem caring," Kate cut in, glancing at Roy with a tweaked brow and a facial expression bordering on amused and annoyed. "It gets annoying to wear the gloves all of the time, we're just going to be eating with some friends, I don't plan on running around and shaking hands with everyone in the restaurant. I'll be fine, I have done this before you know."

Roy sighed and scratched at his head. "Then lets go downstairs," he said, offering her his arm.

She smiled and took the white covered arm. Roy was out of his military uniform and was in a pair of black slacks and a white button up. He looked good, Kate was sure he already knew that though and had no intention of boosting his already insanely large ego.

"So are they meeting us in the lobby or in the-" Kate was cut off as the elevator doors slid open and she prepared to take a step out only to fine herself suddenly engulfed in a hug and being lifted off the ground. "Hughes, put me down," she cried, startled by his sudden appearance and the fact that he was touching her without much warning.

"You two look so cute together," the man gushed turning to try and hug Roy who gave him a warning look, so he instead decided to turn and put an arm around Gracia. "Don't they look cute together dear?"

"Very, but why don't we go get some food before you start planning their wedding," Gracia teased.

"Oh, I left my necklace upstairs." Out of habit, Kate had raised her hand to play with the locket Ed had given her only to find that it was gone. "I must have left in the bathroom, I'll meet you in the restaurant, ok," she chirped, kissing Roy on the cheek before flouncing back into the elevator.

"Well Roy, I must say, I'm proud of you," Hughes said, clapping his old friend on the back.

Growling to himself as he nearly stumbled forward, Roy gave Hughes a look of irritation. "Why is that Hughes?"

"You've found yourself a great girl, it's about time too, I was beginning think you'd be a bachelor forever."

"And what would have been wrong with that," Roy asked stiffly.

"Great men need great women by their sides Roy, if you want to go anywhere in this world you need to learn that."

"Shut up Hughes," Roy sighed.

"I noticed Kate's not wearing any gloves today," Hughes stated conversationally.

"And?"

"I was just curious, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, so why is that I've never seen her without them before."

"Is it really your business, Maes," Gracia asked.

Roy smiled at the blond woman as Hughes blinked over at his wife and sighed in defeat. "No of course not, sorry for asking."

Having found her necklace, Kate was trying to clasp it around her neck as she walked to the elevator, but was having a rather hard time. The clasp was still undone as she stepped out of the elevator once again and made her way towards the restaurant to the left. She was so distracted that she didn't notice that there were two people making their way towards the restaurant from her right and just as she managed to secure the necklace, she walked right into one of them. Surprised and caught off guard, Kate let out a small squeal and fell backwards onto her butt, wincing as she hit the ground.

"I'm sorry about that young lady, are you alright," a kind voice asked as a hand was offered to help her up from the floor.

She hesitated, there would be no barrier between her and the man who was offering to help her up and it made her somewhat nervous until she looked up to see that he was smiling warmly at her, his one eye that wasn't hidden behind an patch, crinkling as he smiled. There was something strangely familiar about the man and without realizing, Kate was scrutinizing him as she sat on the hotel lobby floor. When she noticed that the man's smile was going from jovial to concerned, she started and looked around to see that several people were now staring at her curiously.

"Let me help you up," the man offered, smiling at her again.

"Oh, thank you," Kate replied embarrassedly as she grasped the man's hand and let him pull her off the floor. It wasn't until she was releasing his hand that several confused and blurry images ran through her mind and the sense that she somehow knew this man grew. "I'm really sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"There's Kate, looks like she's talking to someone," Gracia pointed out to the two men who were spending more time bickering like an old married couple than anything else.

"Isn't that the Fuhrer," Hughes asked, adjusting his glasses on his nose to try and get a better look.

Roy turned in his seat to look over his shoulder at what Gracia and Hughes were both staring at. "What's the Fuhrer doing here?"

"Looks like he and his wife were coming for breakfast," Hughes replied, nodding towards the plain woman beside him who was smiling at Nori as the brown haired girl said something before giving a small bow of her head and hurrying towards the restaurant.

"Why were you talking to Fuhrer Bradley," Roy asked as she took the seat beside him.

"Huh," was Kate's confused reply as she cocked her head and blinked at Roy. "What are you talking about?" Her attention shifted from Roy to Hughes when the man started chuckling, it only made her more confused to see that Gracia was smiling at her too.

"You had no idea that the man you were talking to just now is Fuhrer King Bradley," Hughes asked, highly amused by the confusion on Kate's face.

"No, I didn't know that. How would I know that, I've never seen him before," Kate replied slightly offended by the way he was laughing at her and somewhat bothered by the muddled flashes she had seen when she had touched him as well as the odd sense that she knew him, even though she knew she had never met him before today.

"What happened," Roy inquired.

"I couldn't get the silly necklace to clasp so I wasn't paying attention and ran right into him," Kate answered, her tone a little more clipped than she had meant for it to be.

Roy looked over at her and frowned, her brows were knit together as she stared at the empty place setting in front of her and she seemed to be thinking about something as she nibbled on her bottom lip. Throughout the course of the meal, Kate rarely talked or paid much attention to what was going on, she was too busy trying to figure out what she had seen. All she could really grasp was a strange hospital room and a sense of fear, but then the fear was gone and there was a young boy with dark hair and eyes, his face was innocent but there was something about him that screamed danger to her. It was strange though, she had only caught a very brief glance of the young boy, he couldn't have been more than ten years old and she had no idea how far back the memories she was seeing went, but it was highly likely that the boy was entirely grown up, even so she felt another strange sense of familiarity with him.

"Kate? Kay?"

"Hmm," she hummed, she shaking off her thoughts to blink at Roy. "Sorry, I was distracted, what were you saying?"

"It's about time for us to check out and go catch our train, are you ready?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," she answered, smiling as she pushed herself away from the table to stand up. Distractedly saying her goodbyes to both Hughes and his wife, Kate happily excused herself with Roy to get their luggage from their room so they could catch a taxi to the train station. She knew the moment they stepped away from the newly wedded couple that Roy already knew something was up with her. He was much smarter than he often let on, he hadn't become a lieutenant colonel at such a young age by being a lazy idiot after all. She didn't say anything however until they got up to their room and Roy casually leaned up against the wall near the window and stared at her while she put the last of her things into her suitcase. "How much do you know about the Fuhrer?"

"He enjoys war and bloodshed. He'll do whatever it takes to win a war, there's no difference to him between innocent and guilty, if you're in his way, he'll kill you," Roy answered darkly.

Kate frowned, but continued to put her things away when she had finished, she zipped the case up and turned to Roy. "Does he have a son?"

"I don't think he and his wife have any children."

"Strange. I saw a child, a young boy with dark and dark eyes, but...I felt like I had seen him before, same with the Fuhrer, I felt this strange familiarity with him."

"You could have seen him during-"

"No," Kate cut in seriously. "I've never seen that man before in my life. At least not with my own eyes, same with the child."

"Is it possible someone you touched knew them," Roy asked.

"Yes, but I've seen so many faces, so many people, they all start to blend together after awhile. So why is it different with the Fuhrer and that boy, I get this feeling that wherever I've seen those two before, the circumstances were not good."

"What all did you see?"

"It was hard to make out at first, but I saw a hospital room and knew that he, the Fuhrer, was in pain, but in time the pain faded and was replaced with something else...Something...strange. Then a glimpse of that boy, I think there was another man, but I couldn't see his face. That was it though, nothing really interesting," she answered.

"We should go, we don't want to miss our train." Pushing away from the wall, Roy walked to where he had set his bag by the door.

"Hey," Kate called, getting him to turn towards her, his face blank. "I know you want to work your way to the top and I said I'd help you, but right now you're thinking 'if only she'd something more, something I could use,' right?"

Seemingly caught off guard by her statement, Roy didn't answer her.

"I said I'd help you in anyway I could, I know you're wanting to make a difference by climbing the ladder as high as you can, but...I am not a tool for your advancement Roy Mustang. I'll do paperwork, I'll help protect you and everyone else, but I will not go around shaking hands with every member of this corrupt and morally bankrupt government just to find out who has done what so that you might advance faster," she pulled her suitcase off the bed and walked to where Roy was waiting by the door, looking at her uncertainly. "I'm not angry with you, but like I said, I'm not a fool, your face told me everything I needed to know. I'm sorry that I can't be more useful Roy, but it just doesn't work that way. Anyway, should we go? I still have some homework to do and I'm going to have to do some shopping since I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll rarely be cooking for only myself anymore," she said, grinning at him and kissing him on the cheek.

* * *

Sorry this was jind of short and somewhat pointless...Though there is a reason she met the Fuhrer, sort of. Any guesses as to who the boy she was and why the Fuhrer and he seemed familiar? It might not be what you think...

So I know I said I wouldn't be updating this story as frequently as my others, but now it seems that I may not be updating much at all. I got a promotion and a raise, which is cool, I finally have a title which is nice, but I will now be working five days a week, forty hours plus a week. I was only working four days before and two of those were graveyard so I had time to write at night, but I won't have that luxury anymore unfortunately. I will not abandon any of my stories, but I probably won't be updating all that frequently for awhile until I can earn to balance everything...

Thank you for supporting this story, please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer- I don't own Full Metal Alchemist

**Chapter 12**

**The First**

Kate rolled her golden eyes and sighed as she walked down the main, window lined hall of the East City's military headquarters. It had only been two weeks since Hughes had gotten married and in that time she and Roy had kept their relationship under wraps. Of course this meant that everyone had a pretty good idea that they were indeed dating and it had gotten to the point that they really didn't care.

Though outwardly not much had changed, Kate and Roy seemed to be finding more happiness in their little fights than they normally did. They challenged each other constantly and never noticed that they were grinning like idiots the entire time.

At the moment though, Kate was not grinning, she looked rather annoyed actually as she stalked down the hall and towards the group of men that were standing around outside of the small break room. Roy was among them and appeared to be the main attraction since Fuery, Havoc, Falman and Breda were all watching him with something like admiration. While she knew Roy was in fact a man to be admired, at times, she was also aware that he was too full of himself and judging by the cocky smirk on his face and the proud way he was standing, he was likely not talking about anything that was actually worth being admired for. Say helping an old woman across the street or something.

Though her heels were clicking against the tile as she walked, holding a stack of papers in her arms, the noise didn't capture the attention of any of the men. It wasn't until she was only a few steps away that she understood the reasons for why the men were all looking so adoringly at Roy.

"When I become Fuhrer all the women in the military will wear miniskirts! We will have an army of beautiful women and the world will-"

"Shut up, Roy," Kate grumbled after cutting off the man's speech with a hearty smack to the back of his head. She would have continued on walking but Havoc threw himself at Roy blabbering about how much he loved him. Lifting an eyebrow at the man that was now in her way and who was completely oblivious to it, she sighed and lifted her foot to push Havoc roughly out of her way. "Why don't you get back to work before I really lose my temper, remember what happened the last time?"

Silence ensued as she stalked away from them, everyone looked rather frightened by her threat and remembered the day only a few weeks before when she had taken on half of the soldiers in the HQ, and had won all of the fights.

"She's bluffing, she's just jealous and worried that my attention will no longer be-"

Kate stopped walking and turned towards Roy giving him a look that immediately made him shut up. "If you haven't noticed, I'm in a bad mood today. For some reason I couldn't sleep last night," she growled, glaring at Roy. "I could use a good training exercise and _you_ just volunteered yourself be my sparring partner."

"Me," Roy asked innocently. "I could never fight a woman, it's not proper."

"Oh really," Kate countered blandly. "Fine, then I'll give you a choice. Fight me or you're banned from my apartment for a month."

Roy's jaw dropped for a moment as the others snickered. "That's just mean," he mumbled sulkily, scratching at his head. "But fine, I'll fight you. Just don't be mad when you lose."

Kate smirked. "Lose? I won't lose." With that she spun around again and started walking away. "Be in the gym in thirty minutes and be ready to fight," she called over her shoulder.

"You can't be serious, Colonel," Havoc inquired, rubbing at his neck and watching Kate disappear. "You're going to fight her? She'll kill you."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Havoc," Roy replied sarcastically. "She won't kill me."

"You sure, she looked pretty mad," Fuery pointed out.

"Yeah, more so than usual. What did you do this time," Breda asked lazily.

"Why do you all assume _I_ did something, maybe it was someone else, like Leo," Roy replied.

There were mumbled nos and a few head shakes to show that not a single one of them believed that anyone but Roy could make Kate angry.

"Well, gee, thanks," Roy grumbled with a sarcastic smile, rolling his eyes as he started to trek down the hall, figuring he might as well make his way to the gym, he had no intention of fighting Kate, that was just wrong in his opinion. He loved her, he didn't want to fight her. And she was a woman. Men weren't supposed to fight with with women, lazy, chivalrous ones who were a bit scared of them anyways.

* * *

"Roy," Kate shouted as she ran into the gym to see the man talking to a group of women in sweats and baggy t-shirts. "We have a problem," she said as she walked up to him, casting a quick glance at the three women he had been speaking to.

Normally, Roy would have thought the problem was him innocently talking to the group of women who had been very interested in the fact that he was an alchemist, but upon seeing the look on Kate's face and the way she was carrying herself, he knew that whatever the problem was, it wasn't as trivial as that. "If you'll excuse me," he said, smiling to the women brightly before turning to walk out of the gym with Kate. "So this problem," he asked somberly as they made their way out of the gym. "What is it?"

Kate hesitated, she had a folder held tightly in her hands that she glanced at, halting in the middle of the hall and turning to face Roy. "A murder."

"I take it wasn't just an ordinary murder," he asked seriously.

Sighing and shaking her head, Kate closed her eyes. "Is there any such thing as an ordinary murder? Anyways, no it's not ordinary, there would be no need to get the military involved if it was. I haven't seen what's in this folder, but as you know I haven't been wearing my gloves as often lately and I touched the officer that brought this to your office. I told him I'd find you immediately...The images that were running through his head, Roy, they were...well, see for yourself," she handed him the folder she had been holding and after he frowned at her, surveying if she was alright or not, he opened it.

His eyes widened and he looked up at her, shocked by the images that the photos in the folder presented him with. Running a hand through his hair to give himself a minute to think before speaking again, Roy avoided looking at the gruesome pictures of what had once been an fifteen year old girl, but was now nothing but a pile of body parts and splattered blood.

"Are you ok," he asked Kate, closing the file and wishing that he could grab a hold of the beautiful girl.

"I'm fine," she replied, surprising him with the strength in her voice as she looked up at him with no fear whatsoever. "I want to help find the person who did this. I want to make sure they pay."

It took him a moment to process the statement, but when he did, he had a distinct feeling that Kate knew something more than she was telling him. He didn't question her though, he figured it would be best to let her do as she wanted and ask her questions later.

* * *

Stepping out of the car, Kate looked around the street at all of the people that were standing behind police tape and curiously looking at everyone that was on the other side of it. Like her. Her heels clicked on the pavement as she moved aside to allow Roy room to also get out of the black military car. They were in the a portion of East City that was run down, but still functioning and running strong despite the fact that it was the poorer district in the city. It was a compact neighborhood, the type where everyone knew everyone else, sort of like it's own small town. Now it was being ripped apart by a gruesome murder.

"It's over here, lieutenant colonel," a black clad police officer said, walking up to the group that had exited the two cars that had brought them. "Are you sure you want to go, miss?" He paused to turn and look Kate uncertainly.

"I'll be fine, thank you," Kate replied, nodding for the man to continue to lead them down the alley that the young girl's body had been discovered in. She felt Roy's hand on her lower back as they were forced to walk single file down the confined alleyway, she didn't know why she had stepped through first, but she had and she instantly regretted it when she saw the rivers of thick red liquid and followed the puddles to their source.

Her stomach jolted and she stumbled, bile building up and burning her throat.

"Kate-"

"I'm fine," she insisted, waving away Roy's hand and straightening herself back up. She avoided looking directly at the ruined body of the teenage girl that was piled on the ground only a few feet in front of her.

"Whoa," Havoc muttered, coming to a halt at the bloody mess in front of their group and scratching at his head. "What do you think, Colonel, is it alchemy?"

"It's no alchemy I've ever seen-"

"I have," Kate whispered, not looking up to meet anyone's eyes as she spoke and shifted her attention back to the mangled corpse that was missing its right arm and right leg, flexing her fingers at her side and pulling off her gloves that she had slipped on before leaving HQ. "I have a theory, but it's better we discuss that later. There's something I'd like to test."

Roy frowned at her and then let his eyes roam from one police officer to the next, he needed them to leave, but he wasn't sure how to go about getting them to go. Luckily, Riza had been around him long enough to know what he was thinking on occasion and she was the one to come up with a solution.

"Have the buildings been checked and the occupants questioned," she asked the officers.

"Not yet," a tall, older man answered.

"Then maybe you should get to work, we'll take over here," Roy finished for Riza.

"So what did we want them gone for," Havoc asked after the last officer disappeared from the alley.

"Because I've never done this before," Kate replied, her voice never wavering as she stepped towards the dead girl and lowered herself into a crouch beside her, trying her best to not step in any of the blood that surrounded her.

"What is she-"

"Be quiet, Havoc," Roy cut in almost sharply as he kept his eyes trained on Kate. Her hand was shaking despite the determined and strong front she was putting on as she debated about where to touch the girl since almost every inch of her was covered in blood.

Kate didn't speak as she finally decided to place her fingers on a relatively clean and blood free portion of the girl's upper left arm. At first nothing happened and Kate actually let out a relieved breath and felt her body become less tense, she wanted to help this girl, but she wasn't sure she wanted to see her past or last moments and she wasn't sure if that was even possible. She had never tried to see into the past of someone who was dead, the thought had never crossed her mind. It was as she was about to pull her hand away that she gasped, sucking in a mouthful of air as flash after flash sped through her mind.

One thing stuck out, the one thing she had been afraid off. Pulling her hand away from the girl's arm, Kate stood up quickly and stumbled backwards, shaken by what she had seen.

"Kate," Roy called worriedly, stepping behind her and supporting her before he was forced to pick her up or let her fall to the blood covered ground. "Kate?!"

"I was right...The Gate," she mumbled, her vision going in and out of focus. "Someone tried to open the Gate....She's just the first..."

"What are you talking about, what gate?" Roy asked urgently.

She laughed emotionlessly, her eyes dropping shut and her muscles slackening. "_The..._ Gate..."

"Kate," Roy called, shaking the woman in his arms gently as her head fell back and she lost consciousness.

Behind him, Riza, Havoc, Breda, Falman and Fuery were exchanging glances that all said that they had no idea what had happened, but that they'd like to know and they wanted the truth.

"I think it's time you told us the truth about why Kate wears those gloves, Colonel," Riza said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.

"Yeah, and it would be nice if you explained what the hell just happened," Breda added.

Havoc nodded in agreement, and Roy was left to stare at his subordinates knowing that he was going to have to come clean about Kate, though he wasn't happy about it at the moment.

"To tell you the truth, even I'm not sure what just happened," he replied, frowning down at the unconscious woman in his arms. "I need to get her out of here, get what information you can and meet me back at the office."

"You'll answer our questions," Havoc asked.

"Yeah, I'll answer your questions," Roy answered wearily.

* * *

Short I know, but I've been really busy lately. Anyways, things will start really picking up soon and I do believe that I'm going to have to up the rating to M. Not for any sexual content, but for violence and not very pretty scenes....

Thank you to all who've read, reviewed, alerted, fave'd you are all awesome and make writing these stories worth while.

Please review!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer- I don't own Full Metal Alchemist

**Chapter 13**

**Distractions**

Resting his chin against his steepled fingers as he sat in the desk chair that he had pulled over to the couch, his elbows on the arms of the chair and his right foot sitting on his left knee, Roy wearily watched Kate sleep. Her pale skin seemed flushed, but he knew from touching the soft skin of her face and brushing some of her dark hair from her brow a few moments before that the pink tint to her cheeks and the light sweat that coated her forehead wasn't being caused by a fever. Something much worse than a simple fever had gotten to her and now it seemed that she couldn't get it out of her mind even while she slept, which was when peace normally returned to her face. It had been almost two hours since he had brought her back from the gruesome scene of the young, still nameless girl's death and she still hadn't awoken. She had tossed and turned, mumbled incomprehensible things and at one point called for her father, but she hadn't once opened her eyes.

He had taken her to his private office that could be accessed through the main hallway or the adjoining room in which most of the work was done and where everyone else had their own desks set up. He almost found it amusing that while his personal office was fairly neat and tidy at all times, the desk he used in the other office was usually a mess and looked as if a small hurricane had targeted it. Then again, he could rarely be found in here unless he had a private meeting or was trying to make it look like he was far too important to complete any of the mounds of paperwork that seemed to accumulate faster than should have been humanly possible.

Glancing up when the door to his office opened, Roy sighed at the five somber looking people that walked in and stood up from where he had been perched by Kate's side. He winced as he stretched, his muscles having grown used to their seated and unmoving position. Nodding towards the door that would lead them from his personal office to the room that was used as a collective office for all of them, he led the way quietly from the room, leaving Kate to sleep alone.

"Has she woken up yet," Havoc asked once the door that separated the two rooms clicked shut.

Roy sighed and shook his head, plopping himself tiredly into his usual seat behind the paper strewn desk that had been placed in front of a set of windows that allowed him to look over a portion of East City and the courtyard that led to the building. Running a hand through his black hair that was by now quite disheveled from the many times he had completed the same gesture in an attempt to calm his nerves, he sighed again and waited for the questioning to begin.

"Do you think she'll be alright, she's been out a long time," Breda inquired, taking his usual seat just as everyone seemed to be doing.

"She'll be fine," Roy answered soberly. "She's seen a lot worse than that."

"During the war?" Havoc asked. "I heard there was some trouble in Resembool, but I didn't know it was that bad."

"Not exactly," Roy replied, frowning as he tried to figure out what to say next. "Hawkeye asked about the gloves, Hughes noticed too, I'm sure you all have. She made it seem like she just had issues with human contact, in a way she does, but only because of what happens when she touches some people."

"What happens, Colonel," Falman pressed. The tall man shifted in his chair to better look at his seated and tired looking friend and superior.

"The truth is a bit hard to believe, but you asked, so I'll tell you. It's not something she talks about often, though she is pretty open about it when she wants to be and she trusts you with her secret. Kate can see people's pasts when she comes into direct contact with someone. From what she's told me and from what I've witnessed, it can vary from person to person. Sometimes she won't see anything while touching someone and sometimes she'll see jumbled flashes of things that stick out in that person's mind. The few times she's touched me and seen things, it's usually had to do with the war in Ishbal, not pretty images, and it seems to me that more often than not, the things she sees are not things anyone should ever have to witness."

"So...she sees the bad things that have happened to people," Havoc asked, an unlit cigarette dancing on his lips. It was obvious he didn't quite believe what was being told to him as he tweaked a skeptic brow a Roy.

"Not always," Roy replied. "It's different every times, there isn't exactly a user's manual or anything. It's just the bad things that stick out to her, I'm sure that seeing a bunch of happy memories and then a flash of a decaying body would make all the happy memories seem far less important."

There was a silence that fell over them all as they exchanged looks and shifted in their seats. Roy wasn't surprised by the uncertain and skeptical looks that he saw on the faces of his friends, but they had asked for the truth and he was trying his best to give it to them in a way that would make sense. People like Kate didn't come around everyday, their unwillingness to accept right away that she was a bit different, didn't surprise him. It probably would have surprised him more if they hadn't been somewhat unsure and accepted what he was telling them with no questions. Sort of how he had when he had learned of her special ability, or what she liked to think of as her curse.

"Ok, so Kate can see into people's pasts by touching them," Havoc repeated, as if saying it aloud himself would make it entirely believable. In a way it helped to make it seem a little less unlikely. "That's...interesting."

Roy snorted, his shoulders twitching. "It's definitely interesting, Havoc. I told you that you wouldn't believe me, but I assure you, I'm telling you the truth."

"We're not doubting that," Riza spoke up. "It was just unexpected."

"It explains a lot though, about why she was always so leery of touching anyone," Breda added.

"I guess it's really not that hard to believe," Fuery spoke up for the first time. "Not when you consider the types of things that can be done with alchemy. I know it's not the same thing, but.."

"We know what you mean, Fuery. Sometimes the impossible, isn't as hard to do as you'd think," Havoc said.

The door between the two offices creaked open and a rumpled looking Kate half stumbled through the door. Her gold eyes were bloodshot and had a glaze over them that made her appear to be in some sort of trance, holding a hand to her head she walked through the room, the bright afternoon sun blaring through windows making the pain in her head spike drastically. Swatting Roy away in irritation when he got up to help her, she took her seat on the creaky desk chair opposite Riza's. They both had the desks closest to Roy's desk and now instead of returning to his seat, he leaned into the wooden desk right beside Kate almost protectively.

"Are you alright," he asked.

She gave him an incredulous look that seemed to ask 'are you serious' before sighing and putting a hand to her aching head. "That's kind of a dumb question, Roy."

"Yeah, I guess it is, it isn't it," he replied with a forced chuckle.

"I heard part of the conversation, I take it that you know about my little secret now," Kate asked, looking around the table at everyone. Heaving a sigh at the nods she received in response, Kate let her head fall back onto the cushion of her chair. "You probably have a lot of questions, but I'm not sure that I'll be able to answer them. Especially the ones about that girl, her name is Leana, by the way," she added absently. "For some reason she kept repeating her name and saying that she was Leana, not someone else, whose name I couldn't quite grasp."

"You know her name, but you can't answer questions about her. That doesn't make much sense," Havoc pointed out.

"I'm aware of that, but you didn't see what I saw."

"We all saw her body-"

"I wasn't talking about her body," Kate gruffly cut in, sighing when she knew she had been a little more harsh than she had intended. "Sorry, Falman, but I'm not really feeling very well at the moment. If it was just her body, that I could handle...To a degree, anyway, it's definitely not the worst thing I've seen. What I was referring to was what I saw when I touched her."

"Then what did you mean, Kate," Roy asked calmly.

"I meant that I know what I said and I know what I saw when I touched that girl," Kate answered, lifting her head to meet Roy's gaze. "But I don't know why I know those things."

"Well, that's mildly unhelpful," Breda grumbled, looking away when Kate turned her head to give him a quick, but aggravated glare.

"What can you tell us," Roy questioned.

Kate exhaled slowly, shaking her head dejectedly as she let her eyes drift closed. "From what I saw, it seems to me like she was being mistaken for someone else. I don't know who she was mistaken for, or who thought she was this other person.... There was a large transmutation circle, but I could only see a part of it. I think... she was in the center of it. After that all I remember seeing is nothing but whiteness in every direction and then it felt like hundreds of cold hands were pulling me, I couldn't struggle, I couldn't move... They didn't stop until I...well, Leana, was standing in front of it." She reopened her eyes, noticing that her hands had clenched in her lap and her nails where digging into her palms. Her breathing had heightened and she grew uncomfortable for no real reason, fidgeting in her seat. "The Gate."

"What's 'The Gate'?"

Taking a deep breath, Kate looked back at the blond. "I don't really know, but I know that I've seen it before and I know that it's something that should never be looked upon. To look upon that thing means..." she trailed off, her face drawing into a distraught frown as she stared blankly at the carpet until Roy put a hand on her arm and she jumped.

"What does it mean, Kate," he pressed, trying to remain calm, but sensing the fear and worry behind her words made it difficult. There was something very wrong and unsettling about the entire situation and he wanted an idea of what they were up against.

Blinking, she minutely shook her head, her mouth working , trying to form words, but nothing came out. Running her teeth over her bottom lip, she once again looked up to meet Roy's unusually serious gray eyes. "I.. I think it means that someone is attempting human transmutation and that young girl was the one to be punished for someone else's sins."

Gasps and stunned murmurs circled through the room followed by a heavy silence that no one was really sure how to break.

"You know this for sure," Roy asked her.

"I don't _know_ anything for sure, Roy. I just know that I have seen that thing before and though I get the sense that it's full of unspeakable amounts of knowledge, I get this feeling that I've been told not ever try to open it or look in it, let alone ever try to get to it."

"Who told you that," Roy pressed.

"I don't remember, it was such a long time ago and I haven't thought about that thing again until now. It was probably my father, he was the only alchemist in my family and most of what I know I learned from him somehow or another. I just don't understand how he would know about it, he was a good man and a great alchemist that always obeyed the laws."

"Who was your father, anyone we might know," Havoc asked.

Kate shook her head. "No, I don't think so. And he's not dead, he's alive, I just don't know where."

"What is it, Kate?" Roy asked, noticing the subtle way she had begun to frown as she had stared blankly out of the window and into the cloud riddled sky beyond it.

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing," she answered. "I think," she added in a hushed whisper after Roy gave her a look that told her he thought she was lying and she'd probably hear about it later.

"This whole thing about The Gate, it sounds kind of out there," Breda admitted honestly, scratching at his stubbly cheek.

"I agree, but we have nothing else to go off of," Havoc commented.

"If someone really were trying to perform a human transmutation there is always a possibility that they're a State Alchemist, we could look through the records, see if anyone in the area has ever attempted something like that," Falman suggested.

"You wouldn't find anything," Roy doubted. "Human transmutation is against the law, no one who has attempted it would brag about it."

"But it still might not be a bad idea to look at the files of the alchemists here in East City. We might just find something. Someone who is trying to complete this sort of alchemy would have to have extensive knowledge of the human body and that is something that would be included in those files," Riza suggested.

"That's true," Roy conceded. "Do whatever you want, let me know if you find anything."

"And what are you going to do, Colonel," Fuery asked.

"I plan on finding out who this girl is and what happened to her."

* * *

"Are you really alright," Roy asked for what had to have been the hundredth time in the past hour.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kate insisted shortly.

"Are you sure," he asked. . He didn't expect her answer to change, but he knew that she wasn't alright and was hoping that the stubborn woman would at least talk to him about what she had seen.

Taking a deep breath to soothe the annoyance she felt at being asked the same question every few minutes, she went back to her homework that was scattered over her table, scribbling away quickly in an attempt to ignore the gray eyed man that was staring at her.

The two had gone to her cramped apartment not long after she had finished explaining what she had known of The Gate. She had expected to be going alone, the work day still had a few hours left in it and she thought Roy would have stayed to help with the murder case. Instead he had followed after her, she hadn't entirely cared, but she really wanted some time to be alone and process the day's events which were all still quite vividly ingrained in her mind. There was also the fact that she had a ton of homework to do and was hoping that after a hot shower she would be able to get a cup of tea and bury herself in her work for a few hours before Roy would undoubtedly show up for dinner. By then she was hoping to be in a much better mood, less disturbed and less likely to snap at him for something small. As it was she was growing exceedingly agitated with every second that past that the black haired man continued to watch her. He was casually sitting across from her, his blue jacket tossed over the back of the chair and his boots sitting beside him and the top few buttons of his white shirt undone.

"Ok, seriously," she snapped, looking up from her notes and dropping her pen on to them to meet Roy's eyes. "Why are you still here? Tonight is the night you usually go home after I feed you so that I can focus on my work. I've already fed you, so go."

"Was there more to what you were saying earlier," he asked abruptly.

"What?"

"After talking about The Gate it seemed like you remembered something else."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied brusquely, picking her pen back up and looking away from Roy to stare blankly at her notes.

"I don't believe you."

"Good for you," she grumbled.

She could still feel his eyes on her and it was beginning to grate on her nerves.

"Ok, fine," she gave in grumpily a few moments later when she knew he was going to continue to sit and stare at her unless she told him what he wanted to know. "I don't think that this has anything to do with this whole thing, but I could be wrong. My dad always told me that it was something I should keep to myself, he never really said why, but I got the feeling that he was worried. He could also do this, but I always attributed it to him being such a skilled alchemist."

"What are-"

Roy was cut off when Kate clapped her hands together in front of her before placing the tips of the fingers of her right hand on the empty blue plate that sat in the middle of the table. There was a flash of blue light and before Roy had time to question anything, the plate was gone, replaced by a conical vase that belled out at the top.

After transmuting the vase, Kate waited for Roy to say something. She had just performed alchemy without a circle, granted it had been simple alchemy, but still alchemy without some form of transmutation circle was supposed to be impossible.

"That's it," he finally asked, apparently unimpressed or even surprised by what she had done.

Blinking at him, her jaw dropping open partially as she tried to think of something to say to the handsome man across from her that was now looking quite amused by her reaction, Kate spluttered out a few times before finally saying, "Did you not see the whole no transmutation circle thing?"

"No, I saw, but turning a plate into a vase isn't very hard."

"That's not really the point," she burst out with far more anger than seemed necessary for the situation. "You know what, never mind, I'm going to take a shower. Let yourself out before I come back, it's for your own safety." Standing from her seat, she stalked towards her bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Roy winced when the bathroom door slammed and listened to the water of the shower as it was turned on. He sighed a moment later when he heard the sound of something thunking into the other side of the wall. Standing up, he made his way to the bathroom door, knocking softly and calling Kate's name. When he got no response, he cracked the door open and was immediately assaulted by a plume of steam from the shower and wasn't surprised to see Kate on the floor, her back to the wall and her head tilted back.

"You alright," he asked, stepping up beside her and brushing her brown hair from her face.

She minutely shook her head from side to side and closed her golden eyes. "Of course not," she scoffed dully. "I'm confused, tired and can't think about anything but that girl. She was just a child, Roy."

"Come on," he urged, gently putting a hand on her arm to slid it down to grasp her hand. He helped her stand and wrapped his arms around her. For several minutes they remained this way, until Roy loosened his grasp on her and let his forehead rest on hers so that he could look into her weary eyes. "Take a shower, clean up and then you should try get some rest. I'll-"

"No," she mumbled, burying her head into his shoulder and tightening her grasp on him. "I don't want you to go."

"I'm not going anywhere, Kay." Stroking her hair, her squeezed her reassuringly before taking a few steps away from her. "I'll make some tea and wait in the other room."

"No," she repeated urgently, reaching out to grasp his hand. "I..I"

She was giving him a look that was so full of emotion and need that he found it hard to argue with her. He also found that he had an overwhelming desire to kiss her. Placing a hand on her cheek and looping his other around her thin waist, he did just that, lowering his lips to hers tenderly. She responded by gasping quietly and putting her hands behind his neck to pull him closer to her.

"I don't want you to go," she breathed when she pulled their lips apart.

"I'm not going anywhere, Kay. I'll be in the other room, I-"

"That's not what I meant. I don't want to be alone right now..." she trailed off as she closed her eyes and turned her head away from Roy's gaze.

"You won't be alone. I'll be-"

"You don't get it," she cut in, pulling away from him to fidget and look away as if embarrassed.

"You're right, I don't," Roy amended in complete confusion.

Swallowing, Kate turned to the shower to adjust the temperature to a more suitable level before turning back to Roy. Pulling the tie that held her hair in its messy ponytail, she shook out the long locks and set the tie aside. She had changed when they had gotten back to her apartment, she was in a pair of wide legged, cropped black pants, a black and red tank top and a zip up gray sweater. Unzipping the half zipped sweater and letting it fall to the floor, she stepped up to Roy and with shaky hands reached for the buttons on his shirt.

"Kate.." Not certain of what she was doing, he took her hands in his and waited for her to look up at him. "This-"

"Is what I want," she finished.

"You're tired-"

"That has nothing to do with this. I don't want to be alone, at all. I want to be near you, close to you and I want to be distracted by you."

There was really nothing he could say though he felt that he should have stopped her, the situation seemed too serious and though he could understand wanting to be distracted, he wasn't sure this was the best idea. Still he found himself releasing her hands and watching as her thin fingers undid each button slowly, carefully. After undoing the last, she pulled the shirt free of his slacks and pushed it from his shoulders, allowing it to drop to the floor.

"Kate," he said again, finding his voice.

She ignored him, tugging her tank top over her head and tossing it behind her so that she stood in only a black bra and her pants.

"You're making it very difficult to leave," Roy sighed, scratching at his head as he tore his eyes from her body to stare at the door.

"Sorry, but I don't want you to leave, remember?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Stop," she told him, placing a finger over his lips only to remove it to put her lips briefly in its place. "You said that you thought you were in love with me in Central, have you decided whether you really are or not?"

There was no way he could have said no to her as she stared up at him, most traces of the weary and frightened girl now gone and in place of her was a woman that was bestowing him with a loving, but needy look. Within in seconds, he had her in backed into the wall and was kissing her without restraint.

It wasn't long until all their clothes disappeared and Kate had led Roy into the shower. The water was freezing when they finally shut it off, but they hadn't noticed, all they could feel was the heat of their bodies pressed tightly against one another. Drying off was far from their minds as they vacated the shower, taking their time in making their way out of the bathroom and to Kate's bed.

For hours, they had moved together as one being, one mind and Kate found that all she could think about was the way every touch, kiss, sigh or gasp made her desire nothing more than to remain as they were forever. Being as tired as she was however and having only exhausted herself further, forever only lasted until the first few rays of the sun could be seen peeking over the mountains.

"I've decided," he murmured.

"Decided what," she asked groggily, snuggling into his side.

"That I'm in love with you."

She smiled, but her tired eyes didn't reopen. "I know."

"What kind of response is that," he replied, poking her playfully in the side.

She giggled, peaking one eye open to see the face he was making, he was trying to look irritated, but the smirk that kept pulling at his lips made it difficult for him. "It's an honest one," she chirped, laughing when he sighed dramatically, grumbling something about going to sleep before rolling over so that he was no longer facing her. Scooting closer to him, she put a hand on his shoulder and kissed his jaw. "I love you too, Roy Mustang."

"I know, all women do."

Smacking his shoulder, she shook her head, flopping back down on to the bed. "You're unbelievable."

"Thanks, but I already knew that."

"Goodnight, Roy."

Rolling onto his back, he put an arm over Kate, pulling her closer to him despite the fact that she was stubbornly trying not to move. Finally succeeding in getting his arm under her head when she stopped resisting, he let her curl into his side and fall asleep. He remained awake for awhile longer, watching her as she slept far more peacefully than he had expected her to.

* * *

The days past slowly and soon they found that weeks had past without a single hint or clue as to what had happened to the fourteen year old Leana Woodston. They had been able to identify her and to determine that the cause of her death was loss of blood as well as deduce that the girl's missing limbs had not been cut off by an sort of tool that the doctor who performed the autopsy on her could name.

With no information and no road to follow to bring the responsible party to justice the morale of the entire group that now sat at their desks, staring at papers that had been scanned hundreds of times for something that had been missed. Kate was the only one missing, she wasn't technically supposed to be a direct part of the investigation so she was doing her usual assignments, which was usually easier said than done since Roy seemed even less inclined to do the paperwork that was coming in on a daily basis as he normally was.

Roy looked up from his desk, he was trying to focus on the work he was so far behind on, but he hadn't gotten very far. The sound of heels clicking lightly, but quickly on the tiles in the hall had caught his attention and he stared at the open door to see who it was only to be surprised when Kate ran in, a folder in her hands that she tossed on to his desk. Looking from the file to the woman who was breathing heavily, he was about to ask what was going on, but she beat him to it.

"There's been another," she said through her heightened breaths.

* * *

Sorry for the wait, but at least there was some fun stuff in this one. Given the rating I didn't exactly go into detail, but hopefully no one minds. I can always do a one shot or something later if you would really like me too..

Anyways, thank you to Sybil Corvax, XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX, Black Claided Cat, CRdragonPyro, KajiMori, CrazyBandGeek, alissasaur., and JokerAlchemist24 for reviewing the last chapter!

Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA.

**Chapter 14**

**The Second**

"There you are," a man bellowed from the doorway, his chubby, mustached face beet red as he stared heatedly at Kate who chuckled nervously and backed up until she was standing behind Roy's chair. "I don't know who you think you are young lady and I don't care, taking classified information without permission is not acceptable!"

The man was a policeman, he wore the standard black uniform that resembled the military uniforms and though Kate didn't know much about how ranking worked, she had a feeling she had managed to piss off someone a bit more powerful than his rotund appearance made her think he was. She also had a feeling that the next few minutes were going to include a lot of yelling.

"I don't suppose you mean this file," Roy asked, holding up the folder that Kate had dropped on his desk not a minute before.

"Yes, I dropped it coming up the stairs and that young woman picked it up, but as she was handing it back, she suddenly turned around and took off. Judging by the distinct lack of decoration on her uniform I'm inclined to believe she isn't a member of the military and has no right handling such sensitive information," the man snapped.

"She's my secretary, and though she isn't a member of the military, I would trust her with my own life. I'm sure it was a simple misunderstanding and Kate was only trying to help by bringing me the file since it has my name on it and it is part of her job to deliver paperwork," Roy replied casually, leaning into his chair to stare at the man in a way that suggested he felt that his time was being wasted. Unfortunately, his attempt at silently goading the man into leaving wasn't going to work as he had planned.

"I'm really sorry, it's been a hectic day, I was-"

Ignoring Roy's look and her attempt at placating him, he yelled out, "That still doesn't excuse her actions! That file was meant for you, not her!"

"It's not like I looked in it or anything," she grumbled, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest and pretending to study the rows of books on the shelves to her left with great interest. Inside she wanted nothing more than to clap her hands together, slam them onto the floor, and with some pretty intricate alchemy, have the chunky policeman tossed out the window by his ankles. There was a young girl lying dead in a street somewhere, she thought that was more important than standing around and causing a scene because she had taken his file to the person it was going to go to anyway. She hadn't seen much of the most recent victim, but she had seen enough to believe that there was a connection between her and Leana Woodston and wanted to get to work on trying to figure out what was going on and who was murdering innocent young girls before the death toll rose any higher.

"That doesn't matter! I demand that she be punished for her actions!"

"Punished? For delivering a silly file to the person whose name is on the front of it," she argued.

"That's enough, Kate." Roy gave her a pointed look over his shoulder, telling her it was a good idea to shut up and quickly. Huffing, she stood up straight again and remained silent, which was proving difficult as the man proceeded to enter the room, introduce himself, yell some more about her lack of manners and training, all of which she ignored until she was abruptly asked to leave the room.

"Huh?" She blinked at the policeman who was the one to have demanded that she leave before looking down at Roy, her eyes narrowing and her fists clenching at her sides. She wanted badly to argue, but she could tell by the look in Roy's eyes that he wasn't trying to exclude her, but just get rid of the obnoxious man in his office as quickly as possible. The only way to do that was to give the man what he wanted. However, Kate wasn't known for keeping her temper under strict control, quite the opposite really and she had no intention of staying silent."You can't be serious!? I'm a part of this team regardless of whether or not I'm in the military! I have handled all kinds of paperwork ranging from meaningless memos to highly classified military documents and no one has ever had a problem with that before. My desk is right there, for crying out loud," she argued, jabbing a finger towards her empty desk.

"You're still a civilian and don't have the classification to see these files, let alone work on the case," the officer retorted pompously.

Shaking his head, Roy spoke up, carefully avoiding looking at Kate. "He's right, Kate. I'm sorry, but for the time being we'll have to ask that you leave."

"And where am I supposed to go," she protested angrily. "My desk, my work, everything is right there," she pointed out, gesturing at her desk again.

"You can use my office, I don't think I'll need it for awhile," he answered grimly, still avoiding her gaze that he was certain had taken on a look of hurt and bitterness. He couldn't say he blamed her, two girls had died and judging by the photos he had briefly looked over, it was the work of the same person. She found it difficult to believe that someone would rather argue about her nonexistent military ranking than try to help the poor girl and get her body off the street where it still lay as quickly as possible.

"Fine," she said, brushing past Roy and the black clad officer that seemed rather proud of himself as he gave her a stern, disapproving look. Grabbing her book bag from the floor by her desk and a pile of paperwork, she didn't say another word as she stormed from the room and into Roy's office.

Roy didn't want to exclude her, she had been the one to give them their only clues and possibilities about what was going on and now with another body that was in a state similar to the first, he wanted her help even more. This girl might have seen something more than the first, something that she might be able to show Kate that would help them in finding her murderer. The officer in front of him however was much too caught up in protocol and until he could be gotten rid of, Kate needed to be out of the picture. He wasn't surprised she was upset and he knew she was trying very hard to not say something that would give away that she already knew what was in the file in front of him and just how much she knew about the first case either.

Roy sighed before looking up at the officer again once Kate had left the room. "Happy now?"

"You should fire that smart mouthed brat, she has no right to be working with the military if she's going to act-"

"That smart mouthed brat, is my secretary, and regardless of what you think of her, she has never once given me a reason to doubt her. She has seen and handled material far more important than this and no one here, regardless of their rank has ever questioned her loyalty the way you so kindly have. While I can understand your dislike of having a simple civilian working on the case, I would rather work with her than a member of the military. That girl is smarter than you could ever hope to be and knows a great deal about alchemy, she has been extremely useful to me and does everything that's asked of her without question," Roy cut in, finding it hard to continue dealing with the pompous officer and his attitude towards Kate. "Moving on, Kate is gone, give us your report and then go. This case belongs to the military, your presence won't be needed after you tell us what you know."

* * *

"Hey," Roy said, walking into his office and quietly shutting the door behind him.

Kate was perched behind his desk, her petite frame looking out of place behind the large, bulky wooden desk. Her neat ponytail swished as she turned her head to study something on a separate sheet of paper than the one currently in front of her. She no longer looked quite as upset as she had been only a few minutes ago, now she appeared to be withdrawn and unwilling to talk.

"Hey," Kate echoed, not bothering to lift her golden eyes from her work that was now scattered haphazardly over Roy's desk.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. I'm not supposed to be involved in military affairs, I'm not a part of the military and I understand that. It's just that there's a girl lying in a pool of her own blood and that idiot would rather bitch about me and ignore her."

"We're going to go to the scene, will you be ok?" He asked, stepping beside her to put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, but you know I won't be of any help unless I can touch her, right?"

"I know," he replied, smirking at her devilishly before dipping down to place a quick kiss on her lips and then turning to leave.

"Should have figured you had something up your sleeve," she muttered, shaking her head before returning to her work to pass the time until Roy and the others got back.

Two hours had past and there had been no word from Roy, Kate had finished with her work not long before and with nothing to occupy her was staring at the clock, willing it to go slower. She had class in an hour and if Roy wasn't back in the next thirty minutes, she would have to wait to find out what was going on. If this new murder really was connected to the murder of Leana Woodston in anyway, as she thought it was, she wanted to know and she wanted to be able to help.

Tapping her nails impatiently, Kate sighed, finally giving up on waiting since she had fifteen minutes to get class. Removing herself from Roy's extremely comfy chair, she picked up her book bag and left, knowing Roy would know where she was when they returned to find her gone.

* * *

It was really no surprise to her that when she walked out of her last class, Roy was waiting for her. He was sitting on a bench across the courtyard and as soon as he saw her, he stood up and approached her, taking her bag from her and wordlessly leading her to the waiting black car that was parked in front of the school. Riza was behind the wheel and as soon as Kate had climbed into the back and Roy had taken his seat up front, the blond pulled away from the school.

"Uh, where are we going," Kate asked, confused when Riza took a turn that would not only lead them away from the HQ, but away from her apartment as well.

"The hospital," Roy answered.

* * *

"It was far too easy to get in here," Kate observed, shivering in the cold air that filled the semi-dark room she and Riza had entered.

The room was large, neatly kept and stank of sterilizer, but Kate didn't mind. She had an idea that without the scent of the abrasive cleaners that there would a much less pleasant stench wafting through the room.

"You can thank the Colonel for that, he's good at distractions if nothing else," Riza replied wryly.

Kate paused, swallowing when she the metal table in the center of the room and the sheet that covered what could only be a body. "I really don't want to do this."

Riza glanced at the girl and frowned, she was shaking and couldn't take her eyes from the body on the metal table. She may have only known Kate for a short period of time, but the girl wasn't cut out for life that was related to the military in anyway. She was far too emotional and had a hard time maintaining distance between herself and her work. Not that it was a bad thing.

Taking a deep breath, Kate stepped forward and reached her hand out, pausing to curl her fingers and let out the breath. "Please show me something, anything that will let me help you," she whispered pleadingly.

Lifting the sheet just enough so that she could see a pale wrist and nothing else, Kate let her hand rest on the top of the girl's cold hand. For several seconds, she kept her hand where it was, but nothing happened. There were no flashes, no memories, nothing. Giving it a little more time, hoping that something would happen, Kate let a minute pass and then two before sighing and pulling her hand away with a disheartened frown. Staring at the white sheet for a few seconds, Kate wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't will herself to see anything no matter how much she wanted to and it made her depressed to think that this young girl's murder might go unsolved.

"We should go, it's been long enough," Riza informed Kate, wrapping an arm around the girl and beginning to steer her from the room.

"Yeah, sorry."

Slipping back out of the cold room, Kate and Riza made their way quietly and carefully through the hospital. The lights had been dimmed given the time and only a few nurses and doctors were roaming around the halls checking on patients or talking amongst themselves. Once they were back outside in the cool of the summer air, Kate leaned into the car to wait for Roy and stare blankly up at the twinkling lights that shined above her in the darkness. She felt like she had failed everyone in not seeing anything while touching the young girl, she knew that though no one had said as much, they were all expecting her to see something. Not that she blamed them, they had no leads to follow and they were hoping that she would find one for them.

"Well?"

Kate jumped, not having noticed that Roy was standing a few feet in front of her and was staring expectantly at her. Blinking at him, she stumbled over her words before finally settling on shaking her head and frowning while lowering her eyes to the ground in disappointment.

"Oh," he said, combing a hand through his hair and trying not to sound as disappointed as Kate looked. "That's alright, we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way. Why don't we call it a night for now, we should have more information tomorrow and we can go from there."

* * *

"Her name was Milly Huntz, she was seventeen. She had brown hair, brown eyes was about five foot six and one hundred twenty pounds. She was reported missing four and a half weeks ago by her parents when she didn't show up at her grandmother's who she visits every weekend here. Just like Leana Woodston, this girl died of blood loss, but not from loss of limb. She was missing all of the organs in the upper right portion of her chest, they didn't appear to have been cut out since she had no signs of having been cut open. They appeared to have just disappeared is what's written. Organs just don't disappear," Roy grumbled, flipping through the file in his hands.

"Hey, have you looked at this," Kate asked.

"What," Roy asked, looking up from the jumble of papers on his desk.

"The pictures?" She was standing over her desk that was covered in a variety of papers and a few photos, most of which were of the first victim, Leana. She was holding another photo in her hand and was staring at it with her eyebrows pulled thoughtfully together.

"What pictures," Havoc piped up. "Did you find something?"

"I don't know," she replied hesitantly. "But has no one else noticed how similar these two girls were. I mean I know their ages where different, but other than that-"

"They were both about the same height and weight," Havoc cut in, looking at a few papers on his own desk.

"They both had brown hair," Fuery added.

"Eye color was different," Riza pointed out.

"Yeah, that's all true, but... Did you guys really not notice this," Kate inquired, grabbing a picture off her desk and stepping up to Roy's. Setting the picture she had already had in her hand down in front of him, she said, "This is of Leana Woodston, three weeks before she went missing. This one," she continued, setting the picture she had just picked up down beside the other. "Was taken two years ago. Notice anything?"

"Not really," Roy replied.

Riza walked up to the desk and studied the pictures for a moment before turning to Kate. "The pictures aren't of the same girl. Their facial structures are a bit different, but they're built almost identically."

"Right, this one," she said, pointing to the one she had just put down. "Is of Milly Huntz. It was taken two years ago, when she was fifteen. It was the picture that was put up when she went missing, so even though it's old I would assume she hadn't changed much. These girls looked a lot alike when they were alive."

"Wow, you're right," Havoc drawled, leaning over the two girls to get a better look at the pictures, just as Fuery, Breda and Falman were all trying to do.

"Hey, Kate," Roy questioned sounding a bit too somber given the small break through, though it had yet to prove useful. "How tall are you?"

"Uh..about five six."

"And you weigh how much?"

"Enough," she replied, not too enthusiastic about where he was heading with his questions. "Why?"

"No reason," he answered. "But from now on, you're not going anywhere without me or someone with you."

"What? Why?"

"You noticed the similarities between these two girls, but you failed to notice that you are the same height and weight. You have the same hair color and you're built similarly to both of them," Falman observed.

"No, I'm not....Am I?"

"Yeah, you are," Roy nodded.

"Oh. Well... That's nice," was all Kate could think of to say, though it wasn't nice. It made her a potential target for the madman that was wandering around East City.

* * *

Several days went by and Kate continued to make it seem as if she were maintaining her distance from the investigation, only getting involved after hours when the building emptied or whenever Roy or someone decided to come and give her another 'assignment'. Instead of giving her an actual assignment they would slip her any new or potentially useful info they might have or a list of questions they had for her. She would write up a reply and take it back to whomever brought it to her.

So far there was really nothing new, no clues, no suspects and no ideas as to where to even look to find any. They seemed to be going in circles, constantly going over the police reports, the autopsy reports, everything in search of something that they might have overlooked. They had found nothing.

With the semester quickly coming to an end, Kate didn't entirely mind the lack of excitement. What time she wasn't spending at work or school was spent at home studying. She had fallen asleep at her table almost every night and was drinking far more coffee than was likely to be considered healthy. The closer and closer that the end of her first college semester loomed, the more tired and emotionally drained she looked. Once it had ended and she had scored perfectly on all of her finals, she couldn't have been happier and managed to persuade Roy to let her have a few days off in celebration. He had agreed, but under the assumption that she was going to have a lot of free time to cater to him and his every whim. Instead, she spent the days laying around and sleeping, much to Roy's disappointment.

The day's eventually stretched into weeks and everyone began to think that maybe, just maybe the murders had stopped. Things were going back to normal and Kate no longer holed herself up in Roy's office. There was no need to now that the case was set aside until someone or something gave them a direction in which to go. At the current rate, that was unlikely to ever happen.

It was currently just past seven on the last Friday and the last day of June. Kate had gotten off of work several hours before and with much more free time on her hands than she was accustomed to had spent much of the evening wandering around East City. She had plans to return home for a few weeks in August and thought that it might be nice to bring her brothers a few gifts.

Normally, a ten year old and an eleven year old would probably like things a bit less boring than books on alchemy, but Kate knew better. With two books for each boy on different theories and aspects of alchemy, the young dark haired girl happily made her way back to her apartment. It wasn't much of a surprise to her to see Roy standing outside and a grin quickly spread across her face. They were supposed to try and have an actual date that night, one that consisted of more than just going to a restaurant to eat and then quickly return to her apartment so that she could continue studying where she left off.

Needless to say, Kate was fairly excited to actually have a chance to spend some real quality time with Roy and it showed in her sparkling golden orbs as she quickened her pace. Her grin began to fade the closer she got to him and the sparkle in her eyes dulled until she was full on frowning at the man that was still in his military blues. Glancing at the military sedan that he was leaning against, she noticed that Riza was in the driver's seat and though the woman tended to look serious most of the time, Kate could easily tell that the seriousness which was now plainly evident on the woman's face was far from normal.

Quickening her pace again, Kate walked up to Roy, not failing to notice that he too looked much more serious than she had seen him in awhile. "What's going on?" She questioned worriedly.

"I thought I told you not to go wandering around town alone," he replied, a hint of scolding in his tone that actually managed to make her jolt in confusion and blink at him while shaking her head and knitting her brows together.

"I'm sorry," she managed to stutter out. "I was shopping for something to take to the boys when I went to visit. There's far more material on alchemy available here than back home and I thought that-"

"You're going home," he questioned, he seemed to be asking her in a way that questioned her sanity and it irked her slightly.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I mention I had plans to go to Resembool in August for a few weeks."

His next words would make her understand why he seemed rather upset her. "A girl was just reported missing. She's twenty and matches the same general description as the others. If we consider that the other two girls both turned up dead almost four weeks after disappearing, then we have four weeks to figure this out before another girl ends up dead."

Sighing, Kate took a minute to think before responding. She understood why Roy and everyone else would want to find the girl quickly, but if her disappearance was in anyway linked to the two girls who had been brutally murdered, she wasn't naïve enough to think that finding her would be easy. "You have to know that the chances of us actually finding this girl before that are very low. We have nothing to go on. No clues as to where to look or who to look for."

"I know that, but it's better than waiting for her to turn up dead and hoping that she gives us some sort of clue then."

"Of course it is, Roy, but right now everything is against us. We have nothing."

"I'm aware of that, but I don't plan on letting it stop me," he replied.

Kate shook her head. He was upset with her for whatever reason, probably a mix of her not listening to him about going out alone and for being such a pessimist. She wasn't intending to be pessimistic, she was being realistic even though she knew the reality of the situation was quite dire. "Why are you here?"

"I want you to come back to the office, everyone's already been called back-"

"I thought I was supposed to maintain a believable distance from your investigation," she cut in.

"I don't care about that right now. If someone wants to complain, let them. All I want from you right now is to go tell us more about The Gate you brought up and any theories you have on it."

"It won't be anything I haven't already told you. I've told you what I know," she pointed out.

"Maybe you'll think of something else," he countered.

"And if I don't? Are you still going to look at me like I'm a misbehaving child," she asked snappishly. "Whatever," she sighed, turning on her heel and walking towards the door leading to her apartment. "Let me go put these upstairs, I'll be down in a minute."

She heard the disgruntled exhale from behind her and the sound of the door being caught before it could close all the way as well as the sound of heavy boots following her up the stairs, but she ignored them and continued climbing the four flights of stairs.

"Kate," Roy called, grabbing her hand to get her to stop walking and turn to face him. "I'm sorry, I was worried."

"I understand that, but that doesn't mean that it's okay for you to be a jerk," she argued. "It's not like I'm not upset over this situation either, I know that it's serious. Girls are dying and I'm not taking that lightly, but I am trying to maintain some distance from this, I'm not like you, Roy. Or Riza, or Havoc or anyone in the military. It's easier for you guys to push things to the back of your minds at the end of the day, you were trained to do that, I wasn't."

Frowning at the way Kate had begun to shake, he stepped up next to her and wrapped his arms around her. She stubbornly refused to return the gesture and stiffly let him hold her.

"Are you going to be okay," he asked, not knowing what else to say to console her since that wasn't exactly his strong suit with woman, but he also knew that she wasn't going to be okay. The series of events that were playing out were forever going to be imprinted on her mind, just as the war was imprinted on his.

"Yeah," she replied, detaching herself from his arms and smiling. "I have you to look out for me."

* * *

Ok, I'll make this quick since I should have started getting ready for work a half hour ago.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 15**

**Helpful Stranger**

"You can tell by the picture that this girl is older than the others, but she still shares a lot of similarities with them," Kate observed, looking over a picture of a smiling brown haired girl making a peace sign at the camera. "She's got brown hair, is around the same height and slim. I think it's pretty obvious that these girls aren't exactly chosen at random."

"But why only girls with brown hair, that are all about five six and a hundred and twenty pounds," Havoc asked, he was leaning comfortably into his chair, one leg crossed over the other and a cigarette bouncing around on his lips.

Kate shrugged. "Who knows. They must remind him of someone, but whether it's in a good way or bad, who knows."

"What about your theory," Roy spoke up. "If the murderer is trying to open this 'Gate' and perform human transmutation of some kind, why only girls that look so similar."

Kate frowned, she didn't personally like being questioned about something she would really rather maintain a good distance away from. Not to mention trying to analyze the thoughts and actions of a murderous person wasn't exactly her specialty. Shaking her head and sighing, she looked down at the photo on her lap. "I don't see why someone would try to transmute a human that they hated, it wouldn't make sense. Why try to transmute someone when you can simply kill them, this guy doesn't seem to have a problem with that."

"You think it's someone that was close to the killer," Breda asked.

"That would make the most sense," Kate answered. "The biggest pull to human transmutation is brining a person back from the dead, who wouldn't want to be reunited with their loved ones after all."

"So he's trying to bring someone back from the dead, huh," Roy said thoughtfully, sighing as he rested his chin on his interlaced fingers as he leaned over his desk.

"Maybe, or maybe he's trying to heal someone who's seriously ill. Maybe he just has a fascination with girls who have brown hair. I really don't know," Kate tiredly added, giving Roy a look that was pleading to let her go home.

"Tell us more about 'The Gate'," Roy prodded.

Dropping her head on to the head rest of her chair, Kate sighed in exasperation and took a deep breath. "I already told you what I know, Roy."

"Tell us again."

"Fine," she replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she lifted her head to fix Roy with a brief unhappy glare. "I know that the Gate has something to do with human transmutation, but I don't know what. When I saw what Leana saw, it seemed a bit different from what I remembered seeing in the past, but it was unmistakably the same thing. It's surrounded by white and nothing else, the only solid thing is the Gate itself. Looking at it, hell, thinking about it creeps me out and makes me feel like there's hundreds of tiny, hungry hands trying to pull me closer to it. It's hard to resist the pull and there's this feeling that if you just look inside for even an instant you would be bestowed with unspeakable amounts of knowledge. I've been told not to look in it though, I don't know by who," Kate snapped, turning to Roy who was about to speak before continuing. "Since looking in it is out of the question and I get the feeling that you don't have much choice once you're standing before it, getting to it is pretty much out of the question."

Everyone went silent for a moment, exchanging looks and sighs over the lack of any new information. It would be Falman that finally broke the silence with a curious, but honest question that no one knew how they had overlooked.

"How are you supposed to get to it?"

Kate blinked over at him, just as everyone else in the room did.

"That's a good question," Fuery agreed. "How do you get to it?"

"Uh. I have no idea," Kate replied.

"Isn't it obvious," Roy asked. "You attempt to perform alchemy on a human."

* * *

Kate looked up from her desk when the door to the office opened and Riza, Havoc, Fuery, Falman and Breda all walked in looking very dispirited. They all took their own seats, but didn't say anything.

Roy, who had been sitting behind his own desk, going over some of the day's work, frowned as he noted the looks on everyone's faces. Setting the papers he was working no aside, the black haired man leaned back into his chair and studied everyone as they shuffled around in their seats."Nothing, huh?"

Riza shook her head, her blond bangs falling into her eyes before she flicked them back behind her her. "Nothing. We scoured the entire neighborhood and no one saw anything suspicious."

"There's no signs of a struggle at her apartment or anywhere along the route she would take to work. We don't even know where she was taken from, we might be looking in all the wrong places," Havoc added, folding his arms and leaning into his chair, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"It's been a week and we still don't know anything more than we did when we first started looking," Roy said, resting his cheek on his fist as he propped his elbow up on the arm of his chair.

"What is it, Kate," Breda asked, noticing the frown that was forming on her face as she stared blankly at her work.

Blinking rapidly, she looked up at Breda. "Huh?"

"What were you thinking," Roy asked.

Turning to face Roy, Kate frowned again. "Havoc said that we don't know where to start looking because we don't know where this girl was when she disappeared, but it's the same for the other two girls. We don't know where they were when they were taken, only where they were when they were found."

"We've already been over both scenes several times," Havoc pointed out, reaching into his pocket to pull out a battered pack of cigarettes. "We haven't found anything."

"I know that, but that also just doesn't make sense. There was blood everywhere in both cases. How do you move a body that is in that condition without leaving some trace behind?" Kate had now leaned back into her chair, her arms folded over the uncomfortable blue top she was forced to wear and her legs crossed. Her black heels lay forgotten on the floor beside her, she wasn't walking around so didn't need them and refused to wear them while sitting at her desk.

"We already know the girls didn't die where they were found, but we haven't been able to figure out how they were moved," Riza said.

Kate shifted her attention from Riza's brown eyes, she had turned towards her friend when the woman had spoken, but was know watching Roy as he started shifting through the papers and files on his desk urgently. "Roy?"

"I'm an idiot," he mumbled to himself, finally finding the file that he was looking for and flipping it open, scanning the contents until he stood up and walked to Kate's desk. Dropping the file on her desk and ignoring her look of confusion, he pointed to a section of handwritten remarks in the autopsy report of Leana Woodston. "There's your answer about how she was moved."

Kate looked at what he was pointing at, but shook her head and tilted her head back up to look into his dark eyes. "I don't understand."

Wanting to know just what Roy was talking about, Falman had taken a peek over Kate's shoulder and scanned the remarks that Roy was pointing to.

"Traces of plastic were found on her clothes," Falman cited.

"Right," Roy said.

"So?" Kate countered. "Both girls were found in alleys that were little more than dumps. There was trash and junk everywhere?"

"What kind of plastic," Fuery asked, perking up in his seat.

"Heavy duty plastic. It's expensive and usually only used by painters or certain types of construction workers to protect floors and furniture. I didn't think anything of it when I had first read it, but like you just pointed out these girls were found in places were people wouldn't have this type of stuff lying around. They couldn't afford it," Roy explained.

"It might be worth looking into places that sell this kinda stuff," Havoc suggested.

"And who buys it," Fuery added.

"Both of the alleys might be worth looking into further. There has to be something somewhere. Some similarity or meaning to why he leaves the bodies where he does. He's not hiding them, so he obviously wants them to be found, but why leave them in an alley like trash?"

"Maybe that's what they are to him," Kate spoke up in answer to Breda's musing. "They didn't give him whatever it is he's after, so they're no good. They're trash."

"Well, what are you waiting for," Roy asked when everyone stayed where they were, exchanging glances that for once didn't look completely disheartened, but hopeful now that they had something to look into that could help them find the newest missing girl. "Get going."

That was all the prodding it took for everyone, Kate included, to get up from their seats and head for the door.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going," Roy inquired, grabbing Kate's elbow before the petite girl could leave.

"I was going to go snoop around the alley that Milly Huntz was found in. I was the only one not to get to see where she was found, I might see something you missed. That and I can go home and change first, people don't like the military or police in neighborhoods like that. Someone might be more willing to talk to a perfect stranger that says she's related to the girl that was found dead near their homes."

"You're not going alone."

"I'll be fine, Roy. You've never seen what I can do with alchemy, trust me, I can take care of myself. I won't be gone long and I'll call you when I'm leaving my apartment and when I'm back. I'll be fine," she assured him again when she saw that he was frowning unhappily at her and that he didn't seem to have any intention of releasing her arm anytime soon.

"Fine," he finally sighed. "But if you take more than an hour to call me back I'm going to come looking for you and it won't be alone. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," she answered, smiling at him before leaning up onto her tip toes to kiss him before running off.

Roy watched her go, he wasn't happy about letting her go anywhere alone, but he knew she had a point. Poorer neighborhoods like the ones that both girls had turned up in, weren't known for cooperating with the police or military. Not that he could blame them, most of the people had likely had unpleasant encounters with one if not both forces and found it difficult to trust them. There was a possibility that Kate would be able to learn something from one of the locals if she posed as Milly Huntz's sister or even cousin and that wasn't something he could let slip by.

* * *

Kate had dressed in a pair of faded jeans, her heavy duty boots, a white tank top emblazoned with colorful flowers and a black zip up hoodie. She currently had her hands stuffed into the pockets of her sweater and was looking around her carefully as she walked through the streets, each house or shop she passed growing more and more dilapidated as she went.

When she finally reached the alley that Milly had been found in, she hesitated, the buildings on either side were fairly tall and with the current angle of the sun there was very little light illuminating the alley. There were rats skittering about further into the alley, running from one heap of trash to the next to scavenge what they could. There was cat sitting on the top of a round, dented metal trash bin whose lid was crookedly sitting atop it, it hissed at her as she approached the entrance to the alley before leaping off the bin and scurrying away from her.

Swallowing, Kate walked deeper into the alley. The smell was almost overpowering. Rotting food, vomit, other bodily fluids and she was certain there was at least a dead animal carcass or two to add to the stench that made her insides writhe in discomfort. It didn't take her long to figure out where the body of Milly Huntz had been found, it was the only clean patch of the entire alley. There was no trash, no stains of any kind on the ground and there were still remnants of the police tape that had been forgotten after the spot had been cleaned.

Looking around, Kate tried to figure out how anyone could get a body almost forty yards into the alley without being seen. There was no way they had driven into the narrow space, which meant that it had to have been dragged or carried. There were a few other small, extremely narrow spaces that looked like were maybe old service entrances that branched off into darkness and several doors that were either boarded over or had been barred up. None of them looked to have been used in a very long time though and she figured exploring them alone was a very, very bad idea. The buildings on either side of her had very few windows and most of them appeared to have been boarded over or where so dirty that it was unlikely that anyone could see out of them without removing the layers of hardened dirt that clung to them, both inside and out.

Walking in a circle, Kate studied the piles of trash that surrounded the clean patch. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn't notice the dark pair of eyes that watched her from the opposite end of the alley. Noticing something shiny in a pile of trash to her right, she leaned down to have a closer look. The object appeared to be a necklace of some sort, it was sitting in a mix of gooey brown stuff and near what Kate prayed was just a stuffed animal. Kate reached for the object, her face twisted into a look of disgust.

Her fingers were just about to grasp onto the chain when something moved behind her. It had been a quiet, muffled shuffling sound maybe ten feet away from her. She froze instantly, her hand hovering over the necklace as her eyes widened and she listened for another sound, hoping that her mind had just been playing tricks on her and that there was really nothing behind her.

"Crap," she cursed when there was another scuffling sound followed by a deep, feral growl. Twisting her head enough so that she could see behind her, Kate saw the glowing eyes of a large, but thin dog. Its dark fur was matted and dirty and it's lips were pulled back into a snarl that revealed all of its very sharp teeth. "Nice doggy," Kate said, slowly standing up and turning to face the animal that snapped its jaws at her, spittle flying everywhere. "Ok, maybe not so nice doggy."

The dog took a step towards her and she instinctively took one back. Unfortunately, she didn't have very far to go. Another step and she had kicked the wall of the building behind her and on either side of her, there were piles of trash that she really didn't want to try to maneuver her way over. With little choice since the dog kept advancing on her and was preparing to lung at her, Kate glanced quickly around to be sure that no one was watching and clapped her hands together in front of her before dropping down to the ground so that she was able to put her palms on the rough asphalt of the alley. There was a flash of blue light and a surprised bark from the dog as the ground around it formed thin poles of black around him, caging him.

Once the dog realized what had happened, it became even more agitated than it already had been and began to snarl and bark at her with renewed vigor. It was snapping at her from between the bars of the cage that had formed around it. The animal had gotten so close to her that Kate wasn't sure that she could get the necklace that lay only a few feet away, but only a couple of inches from where the dog was pinned without getting bit. Hesitating, Kate decided to try and reach for the necklace anyway, which turned out to be a very bad idea.

Having gotten closer to the possessed dog that was trying to bite at her, one of the bars restraining it began to creak and groan. It wouldn't take much more pressure from the rabid dog before it broke altogether. Deciding it would be best to just come back for the necklace when there wasn't a dog trying to eat her, Kate stood up and with a groan realized that the dog had had her pretty much cornered and in order to get out of the alley and away from the animal, she would have to climb over a pile of trash and hopefully not slip and end up getting her leg bitten off.

Jumping when the dog snapped at her again, Kate stopped standing around and began to climb over the pile of trash. Trying very hard to not think about the different squelching and crunching noise she heard, let alone what she was stepping in. Not wanting his prey to get away, the dog pushed harder against the bars that were around him. Causing one to snap off and allowing it more room to try and bite at Kate, who upon hearing the snapping sound of the bar had turned to look over her shoulder. Losing her footing, Kate slid back a few inches and screamed as the dog went for her leg, managing to get a hold of her pants, but thankfully miss her flesh. Shaking the dog off, Kate climbed clumsily over the trash heap and sprinted for the street, hearing the sound of more bars breaking and then the sound of the dog's nails as he began to give chase to her.

She was afraid to even try using alchemy to cage the dog again, that would mean she would have to stop and she really didn't want to do that. The dog was already gaining on her and if she stopped, she was afraid that she wouldn't have time to perform a successful transmutation. Her eyes widened and she skidded to a stop when a man stepped in front of her, where he had come from or what he had been doing in the alley she didn't know, but he pushed her behind him and with a yell, stomped a foot at the dog.

Kate was stunned when the dog stopped, it continued to growl but with another yell and menacing stomp from the man, it turned and began to slink back into the darkness of the alley and down one of the narrow passages Kate had seen.

"Are you okay? Just what were you doing in a place like that," the man asked, turning towards her with a kind smile on his face that was just beginning to show signs of age. The corners of his mouth were beginning to wrinkle as were his eyes and his dark hair was beginning to gray along his temples.

"I'm fine, thank you and, uh, I was..." Kate wasn't sure what to say, judging by the man's clothes, he wasn't from this part of town. He was too clean cut and his clothes looked to be too expensive for anyone here to afford, but then she looked around and realized that she hadn't come out the same way she had gone in.

"You heard about that poor girl, didn't you?"

"Uh well, yeah, she was....a friend," Kate replied hesitantly. "I was just hoping that maybe I'd find something to help the police find out who killed her..."

The man nodded in understanding and Kate took another moment to look him over. He was dressed in a pair of pressed beige jeans and wore a blue knit sweater over a white collared shirt. There didn't seem to be anything amiss, but Kate felt uneasy with the way he had so suddenly appeared. As if he had been watching.

"You know, I should really be going. Thank you for your help," Kate said politely, shoving her dirty hands in her pockets and offering a small smile to the man.

"Are you sure you're alright?" The man asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit shaken. If you'll excuse me." Kate turned away from the man and briskly walked down the street. She wasn't entirely sure of where she was, but she could see a phone booth up ahead and with a glance over her shoulder in paranoia since she felt as if she were being watched, she saw that the man who had helped her was indeed still watching her go. Turning back around, she picked up her pace until she was practically running. A few people she passed gave her strange looks, she had a feeling that she probably looked like a mad woman, covered in dirt and grime and running at full speed down the street.

When she reached the phone booth, she stepped inside the glass and metal box and practically ripped the phone from the receiver. She hadn't brought her purse with her, but she had brought a few dollars and some change just in case, digging the change out of her jeans, Kate thrust some into the machine and hurriedly input the number to East City's HQ. When the call was answered, Kate identified herself and asked to be transferred to Roy. She was thankful that the woman didn't argue with her, usually calls from unsecured lines weren't transferred, but she had a feeling that Roy had probably told them that if she were to call, to put the call through immediately.

"Hello?"

Kate couldn't help but to sigh in relief when she heard Roy's voice.

"Hello," he repeated, the worry in his voice becoming extremely apparent.

"Hey," Kate breathed, closing her eyes and leaning her head into the cool glass of the booth.

"Kate? Are you alright? Where are you?"

"I'm not sure where I am," she replied, opening her eyes to look at the shop that the booth was standing outside of. "I'm apparently by a place called Piper's. It looks like a restaurant."

"Are you alright?" Roy asked.

"I don't know, there's this guy..." She trailed off as she let her golden eyes focus on the spot she had seconds ago seen the older man.

"Kate, what's wrong?!"

"He's gone," she stated slowly. "He was just there."

"Kate," someone behind her asked.

Kate jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder and she yelled out in shock, accidentally knocking the receiver of the phone and hanging up on Roy.

"You alright, Kate?"

Recognizing the voice, Kate turned and came face to face with Leo. The blond was looking her over in concern, not that she could blame him, she stank, her pants where ripped and she was covered in who knew what from climbing over a heap of trash. "Leo, you scared me, but boy is it nice to see a familiar face right now."

"What happened to you? You're a mess and you stink," he told her, crinkling his nose to further prove his point.

"It's a long story," she sighed tiredly, glancing over her shoulder at the alleyway. "And I can't really talk about it, but I should probably call Roy back before he freaks out."

Several attempts to reach Roy went unanswered and Kate knew that that meant he was likely on his way to find her and if he was going to keep to his word, he wasn't going to be alone. "I really hope he wasn't serious," she mumbled as she hung up the phone and walked to where Leo had taken a seat on a bench beneath a street lamp.

"So," she said, plopping down beside him.

"So," he repeated, looking at her quizzically as she avoided his gaze and studied the buildings around them.

"Do you live near here?" She asked.

"Yeah, just down the block, I was just out to get a bite to eat when I saw you. You looked upset and your pants are torn, I thought you might need some help and came to make sure you were alright," Leo answered, giving her one of his winning smiles.

"I'm alright, I was just a little shaken. I was attacked by a dog in the alley and-"

"The alley where that young girl was found," he cut in. "What were you doing in there?"

"Umm.."

"Investigating?"

"Yeah," she conceded sheepishly.

"So the military is in charge of the investigation now, huh? Thought so, the police haven't been saying anything and it doesn't seem like they know anything. But what are you doing investigating, you aren't really in the military?"

"Yeah, well, like I said it's a long story. Sorry."

"It's alright, but are you okay? Did you get bit or anything? There's a few rabid dogs around here, do you need to go-"

Leo was cut off as a black sedan sped around the corner drawing the attention of just about everyone on the street as it screeched to a halt in front of the bench that Kate and Leo were sitting on. The car had barely come to a full stop when Roy jumped out of it and ran to where Kate was sitting, he had put a black coat on over his uniform and it billowed out behind him in the light breeze.

Kate stood up and rocked on her feet when Roy suddenly placed his hands tightly on her shoulders and looked her over to see that she was incredibly dirty and her clothes were torn. "What happened? Are you alright? Who-"

"Roy, calm down, I'm fine," Kate cut in to assure the man who was beginning to tighten his grip on her almost painfully in his concern.

"You reek." Was all she got in reply when he finally caught a whiff of her and the scent that clung to her.

"Thanks, I hadn't noticed," she grumbled sourly.

"But you're alright," he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm a little freaked out, but I'm alright. Leo scared me when he came to check up on me, that's why I accidentally hung up the phone. I tried calling you back, but I couldn't get through."

Roy turned to Leo, finally noticing the other man's presence. "Hey."

"Hey," Leo replied. "So was it your idea to make her come out here and sneak around an alley by herself?"

Kate rolled her eyes, Leo was every bit the protective older brother that she never had. He and Roy got along fine most of the time, mainly because Roy was extremely protective of Kate as well and could be very chivalrous when he wanted to be. There were times thought that the two butted heads and Kate figured that had more to do with them being silly, stubborn boys than anything else. "Don't start you two. It was my idea to come out here by myself, Roy wasn't very happy about it, but I didn't give him much choice. Now, if you two don't mind, I'd really like to go home and take a shower."

"Good idea, you smell like dog food," Leo replied with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up," Kate mumbled, strolling past him and Roy and letting herself into the passenger seat of the car.

When Roy got in himself, Kate waited until he had shut the door behind him before speaking. "We need to go back into the alley, but I didn't want to go alone and I didn't want to saw anything in front of Leo. There's a necklace near where Leana was found, it looks too nice to have been thrown out, even on accident."

"Why didn't you get it?"

Giving Roy a rather incredulous look, Kate sighed. "I was attacked by a rabid dog."

"Oh. And what about the guy you had mentioned?"

"He helped me when the dog chased after me, scaring it off. There was something weird about him though, he gave me the creeps and when I turned to leave, he kept watching me for awhile. He disappeared not long after I got to the phone booth."

Roy frowned, but didn't say anything as he pulled around the block and stopped in front of the same entrance Kate had used to get into the alley. They both got out and without really caring about how dirty she was or that she would stink up Roy's coat, Kate took hold of his arm as the moved into the now almost pitch black alley. When they got to the spot where Leana had been found, Kate immediately began to look around for the necklace again, only to be confused when she saw the pile of goo and the stuffed animal she had seen it by before, it was definitely where she had seen the necklace, but there was no necklace.

"It's gone," she said confusingly, crouching down to get a better look and make sure she wasn't just overlooking it.

"Are you sure you saw it," Roy asked, bending over slightly to get a closer look at what she was staring at.

"Yeah, you can tell it was there, there's a sort of indention in the...goo," she replied, pointing around the brown mess, but not touching it.

"That man, do you remember what he looked like?" Roy inquired, frowning seriously as he looked around the alley to see if there was anyone around that might have seen or even taken the necklace Kate was talking about.

"Yeah."

"Did you see anyone else near the alley at all?"

"Nope, just him."

"Then lets get back to HQ, you're going to tell one of the police sketch artists about the man you saw," Roy informed her.

Kate was a little surprised. She wasn't used to this side of Roy, of course she was well aware that he was capable of being serious when the situation called for it. But she had never seen him like this. He was standing tall, with an air of authority around him that almost made her think he was more than the lieutenant colonel that he was. It made her blink at him before chuckling softly and smiling up at him.

"What," he asked, returning to the aloof demeanor she was more used to.

"I'm just not used to actually stepping up and being the leader. I know you're capable of it, but it's just weird to see you act like that. Nice, because it makes me glad to be helping you in your quest to reach the top, but weird since you're usually a lazy pain in the ass," Kate explained, a grin tugging at her lips.

"That's no way to speak to your superior," Roy scolded, arrogantly looking away from her.

"So sorry, Colonel," Kate said, mock saluting him and trying hard not to laugh when he rolled his eyes at her.

"Come on miss stinks-a-lot," Roy teased. "Lets go see if we can find this creepy guy you ran into. He might have something to do with this, it's too much of a coincidence that the necklace you saw vanishes after you run into someone who seems to have been sneaking around the alley."

"About that, we might have a problem," Kate spoke up uncertainly as they made their way out of the darkness. "If this guy really was watching me, there's a chance he saw me perform alchemy without a transmutation circle."

"That may be a problem, but I doubt it. I know you don't know why you can perform alchemy without a circle, but I doubt this guy knows the answer."

"You're probably right," Kate agreed.

It had never occurred to her that there were many people who were well aware of the reasons why she was able to perform alchemy without drawing a circle of any kind. Or that these people would find her extremely interesting because of the fact that she appeared to be perfectly healthy, with all her limbs and organs appearing to be intact. People like the dark eyed man that had frightened off the dog that was chasing her.

* * *

I do believe that this is the longest chapter of What Was Lost so far. Hope you enjoyed it, it's getting a little tense, isn't it? Just wait until next chapter, that should be pretty intense what with...Well, you'll just have to wait and see. And there will be Ed and Al next chapter! Kate's finally going home!

Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, alerted, faved, etc. It always make my day and I appreciate it very much. Please keep it up!

Please review!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 16**

**More Than Coincidence**

It hadn't taken long once Kate and Roy had returned to HQ for a portrait artist to show up and begin sketching the man that Kate had seen. She carefully recited the features that had stuck out to her and had made corrections or changed certain things when noticing that the picture wasn't coming out quite right. It took almost an hour, but Kate was extremely satisfied with the drawing when it was done.

As soon as it was done, Roy studied it for a few moments before ordering that copies be made and everyone, police and military alike, be on the lookout for the man. Even going so far as volunteering to have Havoc, Breda, Fuery and Falman go through the criminal photo books the police had offered up. Several large volumes overflowing with pictures. On top of that, they were also to go back over the files of current State Alchemists since alchemy was most definitely involved. Given the time, it was decided that the search for the mysterious man would start the following morning when they had to report back in for work. That way everyone would be well rested and ready to spend all day hunched over a bunch of books, looking at pictures and drinking the horrible coffee that East HQ was known for.

Roy himself was forced to stick around the office a bit longer responding to questions from his own superiors about why Kate had been in the alley and just how much she was helping on the case. It took a lot of explaining and smooth talking before he was able to cover both his and Kate's behinds, but in the end he was able to convince everyone that she wasn't included in the investigation and that she hadn't been in the actual alley, just in the area to have dinner with a friend. Thankfully, everyone believed him, after all the great Roy Mustang was a very smooth talker.

By the time he was able to leave, it was quite late and Kate had left long before. She had left a note saying that she was going to walk home, something that made him want to call her up and scold her, but he decided against it. Kate was a big girl as she liked to point out and as chivalrous as he may be, he couldn't always be by her side to fight off all the bad people that she might come into contact with. He was glad though that she had been in much better spirits when she was able to leave than she had been when he had first picked her up, the fright she had received had passed and all she wanted was a shower and some food. He thought about calling her to be sure she was alright, but didn't want to wake her up if she really was asleep, she hadn't been sleeping well and he hoped that maybe for once she was getting the rest she needed.

What he didn't know was that she hadn't wanted to walk home and had stuck around until just a few minutes before he had gotten out of his meeting. She was only a few blocks away, walking briskly with her hands shoved into the pockets of her sweater, her eyes sweeping the streets for any threats to her. It wasn't until she heard the sound of someone kick something behind her that she froze and turned to look over her shoulder. Her eyes scanned the street, but there was no one to be seen. With a slight hesitation, she turned around and picked up her pace, practically jogging and didn't fail to notice the muffled footsteps that were following her. As she rounded the next corner, she took off at an all out run down the street, sprinting as fast as she could through the next few blocks, which wasn't all that easy in her heavy duty boots. They were comfortable enough to walk in, but not for running in.

By the time she reached her door, scrambling to get her keys out of her pockets, she was gasping for breath and her hands were shaking so badly that it took her three tries to get her keys into the lock and pull the door open to the lobby. Slamming it behind her and locking it again, she took off up her stairs and once in her apartment, shut and locked that door before going straight to the phone and dialing the HQ'S phone number. The receptionist that answered informed her that Roy had left not long ago and was no longer in the building. Thanking the girl, she hung up and dialed his home number, the line went unanswered and just as she was about to set the receiver down, there was a soft knock on her door.

Still somewhat paranoid, she jumped, dropping the phone and letting it clatter onto the table it sat upon. She sighed in relief, her shoulders relaxing when she heard Roy's voice call out to her before a key was heard in the lock.

"You ok?" He asked as he stepped inside the small, but neat and clean apartment. She was still in her dirty clothes he noted immediately and frowned to himself. He had expected her to have been cleaned up and in bed by then. He wasn't even going to stop by because that was what he had assumed, but had changed his mind and was going to at least check up on her to be sure she was alright. Apparently that had been a good idea, she looked far from alright as her chest heaved as if she had just run a marathon and her cheeks were tinted red while the rest of her face seemed pale in comparison.

"Yeah, you just scared me. I was trying to call you, I think someone was trying to follow me. I'm pretty sure I lost them when I sprinted the last four blocks," she said, dropping into a chair and putting her head in her hands, allowing her chestnut hair to fall into her face.

"Did you see the person?" He questioned, pulling another chair over to sit in front of her and take her hands in his so that she would actually look up at him.

"No," she replied with a soft sigh. "There may not even have been anyone there at all. I might have freaked out over a stupid cat walking around or something."

"Why don't you go take a shower, I'll have a look around. I won't be far," he said with a smile when he noticed Kate tense slightly at the idea of being alone.

Nodding, Kate slowly stood up, her legs somewhat wobbly from her recent all out sprint and made her way to her bathroom to clean up and put on clothes that weren't dirty and stinky.

When the door closed behind her, Roy let out a long breath and stared after her. He couldn't help but think that if anything were to happen to Kate it would be his fault. He had let her go to the alley alone even though he knew he shouldn't have, they were desperate for new information however and he didn't think anything would happen. What were the odds that the person responsible for the missing girls and their deaths would revisit the same place he had dumped his most recent victim? Common sense would tell a person that it was unlikely, why would you return to the scene of a crime you committed and risk getting caught.

He hadn't thought it possible for her to run into the person responsible for the gruesome murders, and there was still no proof or evidence saying she had, but things just didn't feel right. She had been freaked out by the man that had helped her, the man that had much too conveniently been right outside the alley and that had watched her as she left before disappearing, just as the necklace Kate had seen did. After all of this she is followed home the same night. Everything was either one big coincidence, or Kate was in serious danger. He had a bad feeling it was the latter.

Deciding to keep his thoughts to himself, Roy used Kate's phone to call Riza. Kate was going to be watched at all times if he had anything to say about, either by him or Riza, and if came down to it, Havoc, Falman, Breda and Fuery though he didn't think Fuery would be of much help if a situation were to arise where Kate was in danger. After a brief conversation with Riza, he went to have a look around outside and through the apartment building, being sure to lock the door on his way out and pull on his specially made fire cloth glove. He had no intention of letting anyone even slightly suspicious go anywhere.

When he returned to the apartment almost twenty minutes later, Kate was in the kitchen and from the looks of it was making a salad and some soup. She had changed into baggy beige sweats and a red tank top, her feet were bare and her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. When she glanced over her shoulder at him and gave him a tiny, forced smile it was obvious that she was shaken and worried over the situation she was in.

"This is either really bad or just a ridiculous string of coincidences, isn't it," Kate asked, turning back to finish the salad.

Not at all surprised she had mirrored his sentiments about recent events, Roy answered, "Yeah, my thoughts exactly."

"I'm in trouble, aren't I," she asked after a moment's pause and a small hesitation.

He really didn't want to answer the question honestly, he thought there was a strong possibility that she was indeed in trouble, but he didn't want her to worry unnecessarily. They had no evidence to point to that conclusion, only their feelings and senses, both of which were telling the both of them that something was wrong. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Kate didn't respond, she was aware that he would do everything he could to protect her, but it didn't do much to make her feel better. She couldn't always be with him or anyone else and part of her didn't think it would matter even if she was. The person responsible for the murders had gotten away with everything without being seen and he appeared to be skilled at alchemy, why else would he attempt to perform a human transmutation. He had to be proud of his own skill and believe that he could accomplish something impossible to attempt it. That was Kate's theory at least. If the responsible party wanted her, they might be hindered by the people around her, but that wouldn't stop him forever.

* * *

As had become the norm five out of the seven days in the week, at least, Roy had stayed the night at Kate's, not returning home until the morning when Riza came to meet her for their morning routine. It had become a habit for the girls to jog before work every morning and since Riza didn't live far, the two girls usually met up and jogged together before having a light breakfast at one of the nearby cafes. The idea for the two to jog together had actually been Roy's, he didn't like Kate running around town by herself while there was a murderer on the lose and had suggested it. Both girls had agreed with no problem. They both needed time away from the men and to have some much needed girl time that they rarely ever got, this allowed them to do that.

Roy would see her again when he came to pick her up for and considering the redness of her eyes and the light bruising beneath the gold orbs, Roy figured that Kate had not gotten the sleep she really needed. Stopping his car in front of her apartment where she stood waiting for him in her blue uniform and black heels, she opened the door and climbed in, uttering a quick, half hearted greeting in the process.

"You didn't sleep again, did you," Roy asked, pulling back out onto the street to fight the early morning traffic and head to HQ for the day.

"No," she sighed despairingly. "I toss and turn for hours and as soon as I start to nod off I end up seeing flashes of the Gate or blood covered corpses."

"Sorry."

Kate shrugged. "It's not your fault, I'm just so tired. I think tonight I'll have a glass of wine before bed, maybe that'll help. Or a shot of whiskey, that'll knock me out."

"It might help you sleep, but you'll wake up feeling worse than you already do," Roy replied with a chuckle.

"As long as I sleep I don't care," she whined childishly, pouting as she let her head fall onto the head rest.

"It's going to be a long day and after yesterday, I need you to distance yourself from the investigation again. You can have my office for the time being. I also don't think I'll be able to stay all night with you tonight, I have a meeting in the morning and I'll need some things from my apartment."

"That's alright, you're a bed pig anyway, maybe without you hogging the sheets and entire bed, I'll be able to get some sleep," Kate teased, sticking her tongue out at him playfully when he looked over at her with an expression that was supposed to be innocent and hurt.

Kate groaned when she and Roy finally got the HQ and were walking to the large office they all used. She could already hear the yelling from the other side of the building and she could place the voice. The police officer she had made an enemy of the week before.

"I'm just going to skip going in there, I'll be in your office, be a doll and bring my papers when you can, k?" Kate gave Roy a big smile before skipping passed him and the door that stood open, waved at everyone who was listening to the police officer rant and grinned when Riza shot her a particularly irritated glare as she disappeared before the office could see her and go off on her.

* * *

The day proved to be less eventful than she had anticipated. After the officer's departure, she had been able to get what little work she hadn't finished the previous day and the few things that needed to be handled for that day from her own desk. She made a few deliveries, pestered Roy to sign a few things that needed his attention and then wound up with four hours left in her work day and nothing to do.

Everyone else was flipping through photo files of criminals, State Alchemists, going so far as to even find information on skilled alchemists that weren't tied to the military and trying to find pictures of them if they could. Roy and Riza had gone out to look over the scenes where the two bodies had shown up to see if there was anything that had been missed and try to speak with anyone who may have seem something, including the man that Kate had seen.

Kate had ended up keeping herself busy by going and working out for awhile, eating a small lunch and then cleaning Roy's office. It was already pretty clean, but having plenty of time on her hands, she decided to dust all the books and bookshelves. Humming to herself as she cleaned, she never heard the door open and Roy walk in. She also missed the look of amusement on his face as he watched her clean while bouncing her head from side to side in tune to the song she was humming.

In fact, she didn't notice him at all until he walked up behind her intending to tap her on the shoulder and get her attention. Not realizing it was Roy, which she should have since he was the only one beside her that usually came into this office, she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye and dropped the dust rag she was holding. Reacting sheerly on instinct, and maybe a little out of paranoia, she spun around and dropped low to the ground, swinging a leg out to sweep out the legs of the person behind her.

By the time she realized her 'attacker' was Roy, he was already on the ground, coughing as the air was knocked from his lungs.

"Oh my God, Roy! I'm so sorry, are you alright? What the hell were you doing sneaking up on me? Are you stupid!?" Her concern for his health had quickly melted away as she stood up and put her hands on her hips to stare down at him in frustration.

Groaning as he pushed himself up and rubbing at his back with one hand, Roy looked up at her and replied with, "You've gotten pretty fast. That was impressive. Guess I really don't need to worry so much about you, you're kinda scary when you want to be."

Kate wasn't amused. A dark brow tilted up and her lips pursed together as on of her heeled feet began to tap on the carpeting. "You want scary, Roy?"

"Uh, no."

"Then don't sneak up on me again."

"I wasn't sneaking, I was trying to tap you on the shoulder to get your attention," he replied.

"And you couldn't just say, 'hey, Kate,' or something," Kate asked blandly.

"I'm the one on the ground here, but I'm the one in trouble? You attacked me," Roy pointed out.

"I'm aware, but you're the dumbass that tried to sneak up on the paranoid girl that might have some psycho killer after her. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

"Well...No..." He was going to point out once again that he hadn't been trying to sneak up on her, but refrained from doing so when Kate's brow tilted up again.

"So who is the one in trouble?"

"Me," he half asked, half confirmed.

"Right. Now get off the floor before someone walks in and thinks you were talking another nap at work," Kate said, dropping her arms to her side and shaking her head. "Did you find anything?"

"No," Roy answered, wincing as he stood upright and dusted off his military blues. "Nothing, no one wanted to talk let alone acknowledge us."

"I had a feeling that would happen, but you can't expect much else out of people who have never had a good experience when dealing with the government in any way," Kate stated, plopping herself into Roy's seat behind the desk and smirking when he scowled at her since he was forced to sit in one of the more uncomfortable chairs meant for the people that were coming to visit him.

"I know, but it's still frustrating. We're trying to help, not cause trouble."

"In some cases, it's all the same."

"Are you done?"

"Yup, have been for awhile, but kept myself busy. I had a feeling that I wasn't to leave the building without you or I'd regret it."

"I have to be in early tomorrow, we can leave a little early today, if you want," Roy suggested.

"Sure, why not. You still owe me dinner," she said, unable to keep the smile from her lips and feeling like a love sick high school girl as her eyes softened while waiting for Roy to reply.

* * *

Jogging down the four flights of stairs that would lead her to the street, Kate pulled her hair into a ponytail and tightened it to be sure that it wouldn't come lose during her morning jog. She was running late this morning, having had a hard time falling asleep yet again, she hadn't slept well and had shut her alarm off and hadn't gotten up until the snooze had gone off two more times. Roy hadn't been around when she woke up having had to get up earlier that usual to go back to his own apartment for a few things he had grumbled about, but she had put a fluffy pillow over her head and ignored him.

Riza was supposed to be meeting her just outside and Kate was worried that if she took too long the blond might get worried and bash the door in or something so she was hurrying as best she could. When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, she unlocked the outer door and rushed outside.

"Oh, I'm so sorry are you alright," Kate asked, spinning around after shutting the door to her apartment building so that she could lock it. She had accidentally bumped into someone that was sitting on the steps and was afraid she might have hurt them.

When she received no answer, she took a step down and tried to look at the person's face.

"Excuse me, are you alright," she asked again. The person sitting on the steps was unmistakably a female. She was wearing straight legged jeans, pink and black shoes and a black tank top, she was also covered in a blanket as if she were cold. It was the blanket that concerned Kate, it was summertime and even at this early hour in the morning, it was quite warm.

She grew more concerned when she noticed that the girl had dark brown hair that was currently matted in places and dirty. It was rare to see homeless people in this part of town, it was too close to the military and police headquarters.

It wasn't until Kate noticed she was standing in something sticky when she tried to step closer to the girl that she realized that something was very, very wrong. Looking down, her breath hitched in her throat and her head swam when she saw the red liquid that was creeping over the steps, trickling down them in thick rivers.

"Oh my God," she muttered, stepping back in shock and nearly falling off the stairs. Barely managing to catch herself, Kate leaned closer to the girl and carefully pulled the fabric of the blanket down to reveal her face. Her fingertips brushed gently against the girl's cold cheek and she gasped as visions of an intricate transmutation circle and a strange gate surrounded by white filled her mind so quickly she became nauseous. She saw a brief flash of a man with dark hair, but couldn't see any of his features and once again she got the sense that this girl was being mistaken for someone else.

As soon as the visions stopped, Kate recognized the girl instantly and in her surprise let out a muffled cry and took a step back, slipping off the stairs and falling backwards. There was a snapping sound and jolt of searing hot pain that shot up her arm as her left wrist bent in a way it was not supposed to when she instinctively tried to catch herself. She cried out in pain and brought her hand to her chest, cradling it as her vision blacked out for several seconds.

"Kate!"

She hardly heard the shout or even noticed that Riza was crouching down beside her, a hand on her shoulder as she studied her only to follow her eyes to the body on the steps.

Brown eyes widening, Riza gasped upon seeing the girl and quickly taking in the entire scene. "Kate, are you okay," she asked, putting both hands on the girl's shoulders and turning her towards her so that she would stop staring at the body on the steps.

Nodding numbly, Kate managed to swallow and take in a shaky breath as she continued to hold her hand to her chest.

"Come on," Riza ordered, wrapping an arm around Kate to help her stand before ushering her quickly into the apartment building, keeping herself between Kate the body on the steps.

After setting Kate down at the bottom of the steps, Riza retrieved Kate's key from the door and ran up the stairs to Kate's apartment, ordering her not to move while she was gone. The brown eyed woman was gone several minutes, there were sirens and tires screaming on the streets even as she closed the door to Kate's apartment and ran back down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom of the steps, Kate hadn't moved from where she was, but she had removed her shoes and was staring at the bloody footprints that she had left on the wooden flooring.

"It was here, wasn't it," Kate asked shakily, quietly. "Jennifer Blackwell, the most recent missing girl."

Riza nodded, looking out the window as police vehicles, an ambulance and several black military sedans pulled to a halt outside the apartment building. "It looked like her."

"What is she doing here? Why is she on my doorstep?"

Riza didn't have an answer, but her ideas as to why the girl had shown up on Kate's doorstep were not good. It seemed they may have found their killer, or more appropriately their killer had found them. The search for the man Kate had seen outside of the alley would need to be taken from a curious search to an all out man hunt, he was now their number one suspect and they needed to find him before he could kidnap another girl. The only thing going for them was that they had the girl that he likely was after now and would do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Within seconds of the police and military showing up in a usually calm and quiet neighborhood, chaos erupted. The street was blocked off, the steps to the apartment were as well and anyone in the apartments that needed to get out were instructed to use the back entrance or the fire escapes. There was so much going on, so much noise and yelling as orders were barked from person to person that Kate was confused when she was being helped from the steps by two military officers that she recognized as men she would occasionally chat with and being led towards a waiting ambulance where an older man helped her into the back and had her sit down on the gurney so that he could see her hand. Riza was by her side the entire time, a silent sentinel to be sure that no one got near Kate that didn't need to be near her.

After some poking, prodding and lots of pain the man examining her hand informed her that she would need to be taken to the hospital to have an x-ray taken to determine whether her wrist was broken or dislocated so she could be treated accordingly. With little choice but to go to the hospital, Kate and Riza were shut into the back of the ambulance and the large vehicle rumbled to life.

She stared out of the two small windows as they pulled away from the chaos. There were people everywhere, trying to get a closer look at what was going on and hackling the police for answers that they refused to give. A black car pulled past them and she was pretty sure she caught a brief glimpse of familiar pale skin and black hair, but she couldn't be sure as they turned a corner and left the chaos behind.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Kate let her eyelids flutter open. Her eyes felt gritty and dry and her vision swam in and out of focus. Attempting to lift her left hand to rub at her eyes, she hissed as pain shot up her arm.

"How are you feeling?"

Blinking groggily, Kate turned her head to her right to see Roy sitting beside her. She managed a weak smile, but had difficulty trying to talk as she pushed herself carefully into sitting position. Roy handed her a plastic cup of cool water and after several long gulps and a sigh, she was able to speak.

"I'm alright, I guess. I feel a little fuzzy," she replied.

"That would be all the medication. The doctors apparently had to put you to sleep so that they could actually give you a shot to help with the pain, you were being quite difficult I hear," Roy told her, chuckling.

"I don't remember that," Kate said, rubbing at her heavy eyes before studying the black splint on her arm and taking a look around the sterile, white walled hospital room she was in. "Was it broken?"

"No, just dislocated. You'll have to wear the splint for a few days to keep it in place and to keep from over using it," Roy answered.

"So does that mean I can go home? I don't exactly like hospitals and I have somethings I need to tell you," she told him, glancing at him in a way that would suggest that whatever she had to say needed to be said somewhere that no one could possibly over hear them.

"You're not going home."

Kate frowned and looked up to meet Roy's dark gray eyes. "Why not?"

"Because you're moving in with me. I don't think it was just a coincidence that that body showed up in front of your apartment building. You're not going anywhere without me and I don't plan on letting you out of my sight. Plus, I live in the military housing, it should be safer there. Don't worry about moving, your stuff is already on its way."

"I take it I don't have a choice in the matter, do I?"

"Nope."

"Ok then. What about when I go home, the boys are expecting me next weekend and I don't plan on disappointing them," Kate pointed out.

"We'll figure that out then, but for now lets just focus on keeping you safe. Precautions are being taken to ensure that no one knows that you're moving and we're going to make sure that you're not followed anywhere again," Roy paused here for a moment, sighing and looking down at the floor. "Kate, I-"

"If you're going to apologize, save it. This is not you're fault. I was aware that I might be in danger when I took the job, so were you. This isn't exactly what we expected, but you're doing as you said and protecting me, that's all I can ask and I'm thankful for it," she cut in, smiling at him when he looked up at her.

* * *

"You actually saw someone," Roy questioned with interest.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, but nothing would help us. I didn't see any facial features or anything else really, just a shadowy figure."

"That's disappointing," he sighed.

"Like it would matter if I had actually seen someone? What would you do when asked why you suspect him? Tell everyone that it's because I'm a freak."

"I guess you have a point, but still it would have been helpful."

She nodded in agreement and watched out the window as they drove through a security checkpoint that would put them on East Cities military base. They drove through a few streets before turning down a residential area where all the buildings looked exactly the same. Red brick with wood trim and large wood doors flanked by glass panes in the entrances. She had been to Roy's place a few times, but they had never stayed there. Her apartment, though smaller, was more private and comfortable.

When the car came to a stop in front of the second to last building from the corner, Kate opened the door and stepped out. Looping her uninjured arm through Roy's, Kate leaned into him as they walked up the sidewalk, past the well kept green grass and up to the main door of the building that would now be her home. Once the door was opened, Kate and Roy took the elevator to the third floor. Roy's apartment was in the back of the building, it was the largest in the building and in the corner. The halls were brightly lit, the white walls were spotless and the wood floor was shining like a mirror. As soon as Roy opened the door to his apartment, Kate nearly tripped over her trunk that had been left just inside the door with a few boxes that contained everything she owned.

Aside from her belongings, Roy's apartment was fairly organized and clean. One side of the living room was lined with bookshelves that were full of books on many topics, most of which were alchemy or military related. There was a desk, a couch and a coffee table and to the right, a small kitchen. The bedroom and bathroom Kate knew to be down the hall to the left. In all it was a nice place, just with little personality. The walls were white and the furniture was what had been in there to begin with, plain brown leather for the sofa and a simple wooden coffee table.

There were a few photos of Roy with Hughes, most of which he looked to be annoyed in, one of he, Riza, Falman, Havoc, Breda and Fuery in front of the HQ building and another one of all of them with her included this time. She knew that in his bedroom, that was sparsely furnished as well was one of the two them at Hughes' wedding, it had been taken while they were dancing and hadn't been paying attention to anything but each other. It was an amazing picture and Kate was glad that Hughes and Gracia had sent it to them, it was candid and the emotion was very real and made her smile every time she saw it.

"What's with the silly grin," Roy asked, catching a glance of Kate's face as he went to move her trunk.

She smiled at him and shook her head. "Nothing. So where am I putting my things?"

* * *

Sorry there's no Ed or Al in this one, it ended up being a bit longer than I had planned and I couldn't fit them in. They will be in the next one though, for certain, I promise. Hope this one wasn't boring and that everyone enjoyed it.

Please review and let me know what you thought. Thank you!

–


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA.

**Chapter 17**

**Home**

"The reports are in on Jennifer Blackwell."

Kate looked up from the book she had been reading and lifted her chin from her palm. She was in Roy's office, but with the team focusing almost solely on trying to find the murderer that was running loose in the city and who seemed to have his eye on Kate for his next victim, there was little for her to do aside from read some of the material on alchemy that was available to her while she was supposed to be working.

"And," Kate asked, closing the book and leaning over the desk in interest as Roy took a seat opposite her.

"It's definitely the same guy. Her right hand was missing, it had been cleanly removed. The doctor has no idea what could possibly make such a clean cut," he replied.

Her brows furrowed and she pursed her lips together. "Just her hand was missing? I suppose that explains the blood, but would that really be enough to kill her?"

Shaking his head, Roy continued. "No, that's not what killed her. For some reason she was kept alive, maybe because she was still useful with just a hand missing. The wound was cauterized, poorly, and bandaged."

Kate winced and shifted in her chair, there was no way that the poor girl had been given any kind of sedative. Which meant she had undergone unimaginable pain without anything to dull it. She couldn't even think about what it must have been like.

"If he was planning on using her again for whatever reason, he apparently changed his mind. She was strangled to death with what looks like a phone cord judging by the imprint on her neck," Roy finished.

Closing her golden eyes and taking a deep breath, Kate tried not to think about the fear the girl had to have felt and tried not to let her anger over the innocent lives that were being taken get to her. She needed to stay level headed in order to help at all and not let her emotions get out of hand no matter how much they tried. "So he killed her himself?"

He nodded grimly. "It looks that way."

"But why? If she could still have been useful to him and he obviously had to have kept her alive for a reason, why kill her?" She knew the answer as soon as she asked the question and saw Roy's frown and she winced again. Her. She was the reason the girl had been killed.

"I don't know. Though it's likely that he found someone else he'd rather have instead."

Sighing tiredly, Kate let herself flop back into the chair and stared up at the white ceiling above her. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"You'll be ok, you know we won't let anything happen to you."

"You have been saying that everyday for the last week, Roy."

"And it's as true now as it was then."

Kate sighed again, but didn't say anything else. She was protected and she knew that, but was still scared and worried about the wide array of outcomes that the situation had. Some were good and some were bad, but only the bad ones stuck out in her mind.

"Roy?" She questioned quietly, lowering her eyes from his to stare at the shiny surface of his wooden desk.

"Kay, what's wrong?"

She shook her head, biting at her lower lip. "If something happens to me..."

"Nothing is going to happen to you," Roy told her, his voice full of conviction as he stood up and walked around the desk. "Hey, look at me," he coaxed, tilting her head up gently and smiling reassuringly at her as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Nothing is going to happen to you, I promise."

Kate sighed, but nodded as she looked away. "I know, but.. If it does.. will you look after my brothers for me?" She asked before quickly continuing when she saw the surprise in Roy's eyes. "You don't have to do anything but check in on them from time to time, that's it. I just-"

He placed a finger over her lips to quiet her and smiled again. "If something happens, which it won't, I'll look after your brothers. Stop worrying, everything will be fine, ok?"

"Ok," she agreed half heartedly.

"Have you packed yet?" He asked.

"No, I only need a few things. I still have a lot of stuff at home, so I'm only taking some of my newer clothes and the books I got the boys. I figured I'd pack tonight after work."

"Oh, I suppose that going out for dinner, just the two of us, is out of the question. That's disappointing, I was really looking forward to spending some time with you before you left."

Kate's eyes brightened and she leapt up from the chair as a sulky Roy turned away from her. "Wait," she protested, grabbing his hand. "Dinner?" She asked when he turned to look at her.

He nodded. "Yeah, but-"

"Just us?" She cut in, noticing the smile that was threatening to ruin his mopey act.

"Just us."

"I can always pack later," she mused giving him a cheesy grin.

"I could always just ask someone else to join me. Ow," he whined when Kate punched him in the arm and glared playfully at him. "So is that a yes or a no to dinner?"

"Yes!"

Roy was glad that Kate was happy and smiling up at him in excitement. He had been growing worried for her, she wasn't sleeping much and she spent so much time staring blankly at a book that he wasn't sure what to do. Not that he couldn't understand why, he just didn't want her to worry or be scared, because that only made him feel he wasn't making her feel secure enough and that she doubt him and the others that would do anything to protect her.

"If you'd like to go home early, I'll have Riza take you. I have a few more things to finish up here and then I'll be home. We have six thirty reservations," Roy informed her.

"Where?" Kate asked, figuring that knowing where they were going would be helpful in choosing an outfit.

Roy smirked at her. "It's a surprise."

Pouting stubbornly, Kate huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "How am I going to know what to wear if I don't know where we're going?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll look beautiful regardless."

Kate huffed again, but lifted a brow as she watched Roy. He was giving her his arrogant, 'I know something you don't know' grin and she was wondering just what he was up to. "Fine. Then I hope a potato sack works."

* * *

"You're coming in I assume," Kate asked Riza as they pulled up in front of Roy's apartment.

"Yeah, Colonel's orders," Riza replied, but she didn't sound bitter or even put out in the least.

Kate was glad that Riza didn't seem to mind having to look after her almost all the time, she respected the woman greatly for her dedication to her job and the amount of effort she put into it. Like now for instance, Kate was forced to wait outside while Riza went into the apartment to make sure that it was safe.

"Riza," Kate called into the apartment when she thought that it was taking just a bit too long to explore the fairly small apartment. She jumped when the blond woman opened the door barely a second later.

"It's all clear," Riza said, smiling at Kate who was struck by an odd feeling that Riza knew something she didn't.

Recalling Roy's early smile that had sent her the same message she was beginning to wonder if she was missing something. Shaking off the feeling, Kate kicked off her uncomfortable black heels and set them by the door. "Would you like anything to drink, eat, anything?" She asked Riza.

Shaking her head in the negative, Riza took a seat on the couch and began to flip through a book on guns and ammunition. "No, thank you."

"Ok, well, I'm going to start getting cleaned up," Kate chirped, practically skipping to the bathroom to take a shower. Her shower was longer than normal, she was too busy humming happily to herself to really care about the fact that she shampooed her hair twice or that she had forgotten to wash off her makeup. Which she of course rectified once out of the shower and upon noticing the way her mascara had streaked down her face.

Tossing her dirty clothes into the laundry basket in the corner and wrapping a fluffy beige towel around herself, she left the bathroom and made her way to the bedroom.

"Kate," Riza called.

"Yeah," she called back, trotting to the end of the hall and poking her head around the corner.

Riza looked up from her book long enough to relay a brief message. "Roy called, he's apparently running late."

"That's nothing new," Kate grumbled.

"He says he'll meet you at the restaurant."

"But I don't know which one!"

"I do," Riza replied nonchalantly before turning her attention back to the book she held in her hands.

"You're up to something, both of you," she accused haughtily. "But fine, be that way, I'll go finish getting ready." She turned away stubbornly and stomped back to the bedroom.

Closing the door behind her and turning on the light. As soon as the light was on she noticed the white box on the bed with a red ribbon and a card attached to it. Humming in curiosity, she made her way to the box and plucked the card from the top.

"For you, from Roy," Kate quoted. "Oh, how original," she sighed, turning the card over to see if there was anything else written on it. Sure enough there was more writing on the back. "By the way, I bought this so you would wear it tonight." She rolled her eyes before tossing the card on the bed. "Sometimes I wonder how I fell in love with such an idiot." Pulling the ribbon loose of the box, Kate removed the lid to the box only to be greeted with folds of white tissue paper. Brushing the tissue aside, she uncovered a pale beige and black dress.

The dress was strapless and she picked it up by grasping the bodice, allowing the skirt of the dress to unfold so she could see the entire thing. She couldn't help but to smile and shake her head when she recognized the dress as one she had seen while dragging him around East City after she had been fired from The Blue Spot. It was a knee length, beige colored dress that was overlaid with black lace and tied at the waist with a piece of black ribbon. The dress was fairly old fashioned, but she loved it regardless, it was chic without being too showy. Putting the dress aside, she slipped into sweats and a t-shirt for the time being and made her way back to the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.

She kept her simple, clipping back the crown portion and leaving the rest down and curling some of it into loose ringlets. Her makeup was done with a bit more care than usual and she lined her eyes in black before sweeping on silver eyeshadow and a coat of mascara. Red tinted her lips and a nude blush brought out her cheek bones. As soon as she was satisfied, she returned to the bedroom to get dressed.

At first she was a bit worried that the dress might not fit quite right, but as soon as she had it on and the back zipped up, she was glad to find that it fit just fine. She didn't have much jewelry and even if she did, she wouldn't have worn it if it meant that she would have to remove Ed's locket. Since her shoe options were limited, she chose the same pair of black heels she had worn to Hughes' wedding and also grabbed the black cropped sweater she had in case it got too cold.

Making sure to grab a small clutch purse and take the necessary items, Kate took another minute to look over herself in the mirror before heading out to the living room. "I'm ready."

"Nice dress," Riza commented.

"Thank you," Kate replied pridefully. "So what time is it?

"Just after before six, we should get going, there's probably going to be some traffic."

"Where are we going anyways," Kate asked.

"I'm not allowed to tell you anything."

"Colonel's orders, huh," Kate sighed.

* * *

"What do you mean you aren't done?! You were supposed to have it finished yesterday," Roy argued. He was out of his military uniform and in a nice pair of pressed black slacks, a white button up shirt with a black tie and a nice black blazer to match the slacks. He was currently staring angrily at a short, thin man that was busy twiddling his fingers and laughing nervously from behind a glass counter with an array of shiny jewelry on display.

"S-sorry, but you see my wife hasn't been well and I had to look after my daughter. I really am sorry, but I can have it done by tomorrow," the man said.

"Tomorrow doesn't really do me any good," Roy mumbled. "There's no way you can do it now?"

The man shook his head meekly. "I'm sorry, I really am, but it's going to take a few hours."

Roy sighed and ran a hand through her hair, closing his eyes and fighting back the irritation he felt. "Fine, but if it's not done tomorrow, I'm going elsewhere."

"Y-yessir! Tomorrow, it'll be done tomorrow, I swear! No need to go elsewhere," the man protested.

* * *

"Stop grinning like that, it's creepy."

"Sorry," Kate chuckled into her hand, trying her hardest to keep the silly smile from her face, but to no avail. "So you really can't tell me where you're taking me?"

"No," Riza replied, her eyes on the road as she drove them through one of the main streets of the town and towards the higher end shops, restaurants and the one theater that the town hosted.

Kate sighed and went back to looking out the window. When the car began to slow, she glanced at Riza and then back out the window to see that Roy was standing on the sidewalk just in front of the theater. Her door was promptly opened for her and a hand extended towards her to help her step from the car.

After thanking Riza and bidding her a good night, Roy turned back to Kate. By now, Kate was quite curious about just what was going on and why they were standing outside of the theater.

"What's going on," she asked. "And why do I get the feeling that Riza knows something I don't?"

"Because she does," Roy replied, holding out his arm to her. "Did I mention that you look beautiful?"

Tilting a brow at him, Kate at first didn't take the offered arm, but after heaving a sigh and shaking her head she looped her arm through Roy's. "Do you plan on telling me what it is that she knows that I don't?"

"Eventually," he answered with a mischievous smile. He was leading her through the streets, which Kate noted were busier than she would have expected even if it was a Friday night, it was still early. She also noted that most people were dressed nicely, the men in suits and the women in cocktail dresses.

"What's going on," Kate asked curiously.

"There's a performance at the theater tonight."

"Really? A play?"

"No, I believe that there's a pretty well known orchestra in town. I hear their known world wide," Roy replied.

"That explains all of the well dressed people."

"It also explains why tickets were so expensive," he said.

Kate turned her head to blink at him. "You make it sound as if you bought some."

"I did."

Kate blinked. "We're going to the theater?"

Roy nodded. "After dinner anyway."

"I've never been to the theater."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Resembool's a small town, we don't exactly have events like this there. Every now and then there would be movies played in the old school building, I took my brothers a few times, but that's the closest to a theater I've been in," Kate explained.

"Well, that'll be changing soon. We're here by the way, hope you like Italian," Roy said, stopping in their walk to open the door to a small restaurant that nearly made Kate want to run away.

She wasn't used to places like this. Nice ones where the waiters wore more expensive clothing to wait tables than she ever wore, let alone owned. It was packed with people wearing expensive clothes and jewelry that almost made her feel out of place with just her locket dangling around her throat.

"Here," she asked, pointing through the door incredulously.

"Come on," Roy sighed, taking her hand and pulling her into the restaurant where she grasped on to him as they made their way to their table and did her best not to touch anyone or anything. "Would you relax, you're cutting off blood flow to my arm."

"Sorry, but I feel a bit out of place. I've never been to a place this nice, I feel weird," she said, fidgeting as she took her seat.

"I knew I should have just gone with the taking you to the diner down the street, but they didn't take reservations."

"Oh, shut up," Kate grumbled.

* * *

Dinner turned out to be far more enjoyable than she had expected, the food was excellent and the wine was the best she had ever had, and probably had something to do with why the experience was so enjoyable. That and it had been a long time since she and Roy had gotten to go out and be a couple, they usually just stayed in his apartment and with how things had been going lately, he was home far less often than she was and she was left to entertain Riza or one of the others for a few hours before he got home.

They got to talk about things other than work and the gruesome murders taking place. Which for the most part meant that Kate talked about her brothers and how excited she was to be going home to see them tomorrow. There was also talk about Kate's plans on returning to school and then Kate's plans once she was finished and had her teaching certification. It was during the talk about her plans that Kate got the feeling she was missing something again, Roy had of course asked her before about her plans after school before, but somehow now was different. Now, she had the feeling that there was a deeper meaning behind the questions.

She never had the chance to question him on her suspicions when the waiter returned with their check. As soon as the waiter was paid, they were off and headed back to the theater. She wound up in awe over the sheer size of the interior and just how immaculate it was. The seats were a burgundy velvet, trimmed in gold and the flooring covering the stairs was an old fashioned decorative carpet. Chandeliers with crystal accents hung from the ceiling in the entrance, casting a warm glow on the people below.

"Wow, this is amazing. I've never seen anything like this," Kate said.

"If you think this is amazing, I think you'd like the one in Central even more. It's twice this size," Roy informed her. "Lets get to our seats, the show is about to start."

Kate had never heard music like what she was hearing now. It was incredible and her eyes kept moving from the conductor to different people to watch as they played their instruments with delicate fervor. She kept Roy's hand in hers through most of the show and every now and then she would look over at him when she felt his eyes on her. The loving looks he was giving her made her blush and look away.

When the performance was over and everyone was trickling out of the building, Kate felt as if she were walking on air. She was so happy and lost in the moment that it felt as if she were living in a fairy tale. The smile on her lips wouldn't fade and she couldn't stop sneaking looks at Roy and blushing whenever he caught her.

Once they got back to Roy's apartment, Kate was led to the bedroom and the amazing night continued from there.

She woke up tangled in the blankets and curled into Roy's side as the man snored quietly and without a care in the world. Rubbing at her eyes, she yawned and tried to detach herself from the sheets to go and start some coffee. It took a few moments and just as she was free, Roy decided that he was going to use her as a pillow and rolled over, throwing an arm over her and pulling her closer to him.

"Roy," she complained teasingly, poking him in the side. "Let me up. I still need to pack and get ready to go."

"Shh. Sleeping."

"Very convincing," she replied, rolling her eyes as she pushed his arm off her. "It's almost six, I have to be at the train station by eight, get up."

"How'd you sleep," he inquired, opening his eyes to look up at her. Her hair was messy and the large shirt she was wearing was rumpled.

"Great. I haven't slept like that in a long time."

"You're welcome," he stated, grinning at her.

"Shut up, pervert." She tossed a pillow at him and stood up. "I'm going to start the coffee, you should get in the shower."

"Yeah, yeah," Roy yawned lazily.

* * *

"Are you ready," Roy asked Kate, glancing at the small girl next to him.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding and looking around her with eyes that betrayed just how nervous she was. As soon as she stepped foot on the train she was going to be on her own. There would be no one to look after her or protect her but herself and while she had faith in her own abilities, she was concerned about what would happen if she was actually followed home. Then again they were currently in the middle of nowhere at a small, stand alone shack that served as a refueling station for the trains that ran through East City. It was a few miles out of town and off of roads that weren't used often and made it easier to be sure that they weren't followed.

The train was due in any minute and Kate was both excited and nervous at the same time. "You'll be at the train station when I come back, right?"

"I'll be there early," Roy replied.

"And you'll let me know if anything happens, right?"

Roy nodded. "Of course, but how about you focus on having a good time with your brothers and let everyone else do the worrying."

The sounds of a steam engine slowly filled the air with noise and before long Kate's train had arrived. Once it was stopped, a conductor opened one of the doors for her and she said a brief goodbye to Roy and gave him a quick kiss before boarding the train and taking her seat. There wasn't much wait before the train was moving again and she smiled and waved at Roy as the they pulled away.

* * *

Kate slung her bag over her shoulder and looked around the nearly deserted train station of Resembool. She smiled and waved at the person at the ticket counter and headed out of the small, wood building and into the countryside. She didn't realize how much she had missed Resembool and it's rural beauty. There was so much green and the air was so much fresher and crisper, the sky a more vivid blue. The people were also nicer, then again, she also knew most of them and was waving and greeting people as she walked towards the two houses she could see in the distance.

The first house she came to was a two story house that had signs proclaiming it to be the local surgeon's and automail maker. Climbing the Rockbell's few steps, Kate patted Den on the head when the dog rose and grumbled at her for having interrupted his nap.

"Grandma Pinako," Kate called, opening the door and popping her head into the house.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm comin'," a gruff voice replied. "Kate, you're home? It's about time."

"I wrote the boys and told them I'd be here, but they didn't meet me at the train station."

"They spend all their time up at the house, practicing their alchemy or out in the village helping with minor repairs," Pinako explained, plucking her pipe from her mouth for a moment.

"Are they at home now, do you know?" Kate asked.

The short woman shrugged disinterestedly. "Who knows where the little trouble makers are."

"Well, I'm going to go and find them. I'll see you later, Grandma Pinako."

"Dinner's at seven sharp, don't be late!" Pinako shouted after the brunette as she exited the house.

Walking down the dirt path that led to the house she had grown up in, Kate looked around to be sure that the boys weren't just playing outside. She didn't see them by the time she reached the house and settled on checking there before running all over town trying to find them. Setting her bag down just inside of the door, Kate looked around the seemingly empty front room.

"Ed, Al," she called. "You guys home?"

There was silence for a moment before footsteps could be heard pounding down the hall from the direction of their father's work room.

"Kay!" Al shouted, appearing first and running straight at her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nearly knocking her over.

"Easy, kid, you're going to break some ribs," she laughed, ruffling her youngest brother's light hair. Ed was standing just off to the side, grinning up at her, so she grabbed him and pulled him to her. "Don't just stand there, give me a hug!"

* * *

Kate's home! That means more Ed and Al in the next chapter and pretty much from here on out.

Please review!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 18**

**Hope Lost**

The month past quickly for Kate. Too quickly. She had spent all of her time with Ed and Al, but the two seemed to be off in their own world more often than not and she had a sneaking suspicion that they were hiding something from her. She had no idea what though.

They had gotten much stronger since their last meeting, together they were both able to beat Kate easily. She was proud of them, but also mildly annoyed. The bruises she received were slow to fade and the fact that her two younger brothers gave them to her was somewhat embarrassing. They sparred daily, jogged and talked about alchemy. It seemed that alchemy was always on the boys' minds and when Kate would just sit back and listen to them she found herself being highly surprised and impressed by how much they seemed to know for their ages.

Kate frowned down at the two light haired boys one of her eyebrows tilted up in suspicion. "Just what are the two of you up to?"

"Nothing," they replied together.

Her brow rose higher for moment but then she sighed and shook her head. Glancing through the window of the little train station, Kate could see her train approaching. "I don't believe you. The two of you are keeping something from me. I know it."

"You're imagining things, sis," Ed said.

Al nodded his head in agreement. "Yup. Imagining things."

"No, I'm not," she sighed. "You two were much too distant. You were always careful about touching me, the only time the two of you get like that is when you're hiding something."

Ed and Al exchanged brief, but guilty, glances. Al didn't look back up at her, but instead stared down at his feet.

"Don't worry about, Kay, we were trying to make you a cool present for your birthday, but we couldn't get it right," Ed explained.

She didn't buy it and she frowned again. The train had pulled into the station though so she had no time to further question the boys. "Whatever you do, just stay out of trouble, ok?" She gave Ed a small smile and ruffled Al's hair. "Now give your big sister a hug." Kate laughed when they both grinned and threw their arms around her. "I said hug guys not bone crushing death grips."

Laughing, Kate detached herself from the boys' grips and after grabbing her bags hurried to the train that was getting ready to pull out of the station. "Love you Ed, Al. Behave! If you don't I'll kick your butts when I come home in a few weeks!"

"Like you could," Ed shot back, grinning and waving happily.

"Bye Kay! Love you!" Al yelled after the brown haired girl.

"Say you love your sister, Edward Elric," Kate scolded after stepping into an open train car door. "Otherwise I'll tell Winry that you don't like her cooking."

Edward paled, the thought of what Winry would do if told that he didn't like her cooking frightened him. He shivered visibly and Al laughed at him before elbowing him in the side while Kate continued to wait expectantly for him to speak up. "Love you, Kay," he mumbled morosely.

"What, I couldn't hear you," Kate called, putting a hand to her.

"I said I love you you damn toothpick!"

"Love you too, shorty," she yelled back, winking and turning to take a seat now that the train was beginning to move. She couldn't help but laugh when she heard Ed ranting outside and Al trying to calm him down.

"Hey brother," Al asked meekly, his grin fading as the train pulled away and left them standing alone on the platform.

"Yeah, Al," Ed replied, his eyes staring after the departing locomotive.

"Maybe...Maybe we shouldn't..."

"We're going to bring mom back, Al. Then Kay won't have to work so hard. She looked so tired."

"Yeah, she did look tired," Al agreed.

"It's because she's trying to go to school and work so that we can have whatever we want. If mom were here, she could take care of us again and Kate wouldn't have to worry."

* * *

"Lieutenant Colonel Mustang!"

The black haired man turned to blink at the man that had shouted after him. He was short and barely looked old enough to drink, let alone shave. He was sweating and huffing from apparently running through the halls to find him. A frown found it's way to the colonel's face, he glanced from his watch to the man who hadn't spoken yet and was instead trying to gasp for air.

"Yes," Roy asked, slightly annoyed at being stopped in the middle of the hall when he was supposed to be leaving to get Kate from the train station soon.

"Uh," the man hesitated. "Sorry sir, but I was asked to find you. We just received a phone call about a possible abduction of a girl matching the general description of the three girls that have been murdered."

Roy's frown deepened, it seemed too much of a coincidence for a girl to go missing on the same day Kate was supposed to be returning home and only an hour before her train was due in at the station. A bad feeling was beginning to creep up on him and he wanted to hurry over to the train station to wait for Kate and make sure she got in safely, but he had a feeling that wasn't going to happen.

"Colonel Mahone wants you and your entire team to go to the scene immediately. Police are already there and waiting for instruction," the man informed Roy, handing him a slip of paper with an address scrawled on it.

Growling under his breath in frustration, Roy removed his pocket watch from its place at his side and flipped it open to check the time. He had just over one hour before Kate's train would be arriving. Snapping the watch shut, he clasped it in his hand for a moment, trying to think over his options. If everyone was being ordered to the scene of a possible abduction as the man put it, then they all had to go, they had no choice and it ticked him off. The only choice he had was to get to where he needed to go and get out as soon as possible so that he could still make it to the train station before Kate did.

"Thanks," Roy grumbled, striding past the man to go back to his office and get everyone else. "Come on, we have an assignment," he said brusquely as he stepped back into the office where Riza was busy filing some papers that had been on Kate's desk. Fuery was fiddling with some sort of radio, Havoc was smoking and staring at the ceiling, while Falman and Breda were playing chess. When all he received were a bunch of blank stares, he spoke up again. "Now!"

That seemed to get everyone's attention, the men all jumped up and Riza set the work she was doing aside to follow calmly after everyone.

"So, what's up Colonel," Havoc asked, walking with his hands behind his head.

"There's been a possible abduction of a girl that matches the same description as the three girls that have been killed. We're supposed to go to the scene to figure out what happened," he explained.

"Isn't Kate supposed to be in soon," Fuery asked.

Roy nodded unhappily. "Yes and I find it strange that our killer has decided to finally move again. It's been six weeks and he hasn't done a thing, until now."

"You don't think it's some sort of distraction, do you," Breda questioned.

"Lets hope not, but be prepared anyway," Roy replied grimly.

* * *

Sighing in agitation, Roy ran a hand through his hair and folded his arms stiffly over his chest trying not to dig his fingers into his arm. They had had to battle a bunch of traffic to get to the sight of the possible abduction and now that they were here, all there was was an empty street and a few bored looking cops.

There were no potential witnesses, no sign of any kind of struggle and absolutely nothing to make him think that a kidnapping had occurred. Havoc and Falman were talking to a few of the officers to see if they had any information about what had supposedly happened, but they had been left in the dark, just like everyone on his team was. All anyone seemed to know was that an anonymous phone call had been made to the police station reporting that a young girl had just been abducted off of this street.

"Search the area, be thorough, but also be quick. I don't buy that anything happened here, but we have no choice but to follow orders and look into the report," Roy told Riza, leaning into the sedan behind him as the blond nodded went to inform the others of their orders.

* * *

Gold eyes were combing through the crowds of people on the platform, looking for the familiar head of black hair and blue uniform she knew Roy would be wearing. She figured that Riza, if not the entire office, would be with him, so she was looking for clumps of blue, but she was disappointed and a little nervous when she wasn't able to spot anyone familiar. The train was grinding to a stop and several people were standing and gathering their personal items with a slight hesitation she too stood up, casting another look out the window hoping to see Roy or Riza, someone. There was no one there.

"Where are you, Roy," she mumbled quietly, pulling her duffel bag from the overhead shelf and slinging it over her shoulder.

Her small, gloved hands grasped tightly to the strap of the brown bag as she waited for the train to fully stop and for the doors to open so that people could begin to filter out. Her eyes continued staring out the window anxiously, unconsciously biting at her lower lip as she scanned the crowd again and again.

Once the doors were opened, she proceeded to follow the line of people off of the train and on to the packed platform. Making her way through the sea of people, Kate neared the exit of the large building, she figured if Roy wasn't outside, she would just take a cab to the military base. Part of her wanted to just walk, but she knew that Roy wouldn't approve and that even though she had spent the last several weeks at home where she didn't have to worry, there was still a killer on the loose. He had wanted her when she left and she somehow doubted that had changed while she had been gone.

It was as she was walking that she noticed a familiar, aging face amongst the crowd and froze, her breath catching in her throat and her eyes widening. The man from the alley was standing by the door, his eyes focused directly on her. He took a step towards her and Kate took one back, crying out softly as someone bumped into her, knocking her bag from her shoulder.

"Dammit," she cursed, reaching to pick up the bag.

When she stood back up and glanced towards the door, the man she had seen was gone. Hesitation filled her. Had she simply imagined him? Was she that freaked out? Letting her eyes float around the station, Kate fidgeted uncomfortably before beginning to walk at a quick pace towards the exit. The breath she let out upon exiting the building was one she hadn't noticed she was holding.

Studying the area casually, she made her way down the street quickly. The Eastern HQ wasn't that far and she figured if she could get there, then she would be fine. It bothered her that Roy hadn't been at the station to meet her like he had promised, but she knew that he wouldn't have just decided not to show. Something had to have happened. Something bad.

The fast pace she was walking at got her within eye sight of the HQ within minutes and she nearly broke into a run as soon as she set her golden eyes on it, she was so relieved. Her relief was short lived.

East City's main street was cramped and crowded with businesses and apartment buildings, many of which were separated by small, dark alleyways. It was just as she was walking past the last of the dark alleys that a hand reached out of the shadows.

She never saw the hand reach for her or the other one that manifested from the shadows with a syringe held tightly in the thick fingers. She didn't even know that she was being carried through the dark alley, her eyelids heavy and gritty and her limbs numb. All she knew was that she had been close, so close to safety, but it was now out of her reach.

* * *

"Can't you go any faster, Hawkeye," Roy grumbled from the backseat of the car.

"No, sir, the car that's stopped in front of me makes it difficult to go anywhere," the blond replied blandly.

Pulling his pocket watch out and flipping it open, Roy frowned and hastily returned the silver object to its rightful place. He then folded his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. The train that Kate was on had arrived at the station over a half an hour ago and with the traffic they were hitting it would be another ten minutes before they got there. He wasn't pleased with leaving Kate alone for so long, not with someone trying to find her and use her for some kind of human transmutation experiment.

The alleged kidnapping they had been sent to investigate had turned up nothing. No witnesses, no clues and nothing that would point to there having been a kidnapping at all and it made Roy nervous. He just wanted to see Kate, to be able to hold her and protect her as he had said he would.

When they finally arrived in front of the train station, Roy barely waited for Riza to park the car before he opened the door and stepped onto the pavement. He nearly jogged into the terminal that was now quite empty with the next train not arriving for several hours. He stopped in the center of the station, his eyes scanning everything and everyone, but there was no sign of Kate. Had she been there, he had no doubt that she would have made herself known by calling to him or coming to him.

"I don't see her, Colonel," Riza observed when she walked up behind her superior, her brown eyes quickly taking in every detail of their surroundings.

All he could do was clench his teeth together and continue to look around for a moment. "Search the building," was all he said before he walked away to begin to search for Kate himself.

The search of the entire train station yielded nothing. Kate was nowhere to be found on the premises and no one had seen her.

Choosing to not jump to conclusions, Roy tried to remain positive. "The HQ is closest to here. Lets check there, she could have just gotten a cab there."

Again they were met with disappointment and a grim dread began to fill Roy. Kate was not and had not been at the HQ at all that day.

"My apartment," Roy suggested, his voice a bit harsh with pent up worry over Kate's whereabouts.

It took less than five minutes for Riza to drive herself and Roy to the military housing area and it took Roy less than a minute to sprint from the car to his own apartment.

He knew. Without opening the door, he knew. He slid his key into the slot and unlocked it, it clicked open and he easily pushed the door aside. Darkness greeted him and he flicked on the light to see that the apartment was just as he had left it that morning. Slow steps took him down the hall and to the empty bedroom. There was no Kate and no sign that she had been there at all.

"Colonel," Riza spoke up from a few behind him.

The dark haired man had been standing in the doorway to the bedroom for several minutes, a frown on his face and a despairing look in his eyes as he stared at the picture of the smiling girl and her brothers on a nightstand.

Swallowing, Roy turned around to face Riza, who had never seen the man look as dejected and lost as he did at that moment. "She isn't here."

There wasn't much she could do besides nod and sigh sadly. They had failed Kate. There was no doubt in their minds about that fact. If they had only been at the the train station on time, then there was a chance that Kate would be sitting in the living room right now, talking happily about her time with her brothers and showing off the knick knacks she had brought from home. Instead she was somewhere they had yet to find, in the hands of a man that would likely kill her. Not once did they think that something else had happened to explain everything. Had her plans changed and she had decided to stay for an extra day or if she had taken a different train she would have called Roy. If she couldn't get a hold of him, she would have gotten in touch with someone who could, regardless of how many people she made unhappy with her at the Eastern's HQ.

Roy dropped onto his sofa and let his head fall into his hands. Riza didn't do or say anything, she just stood off to the side, frowning sadly. After letting out a long sigh, Roy leaned back and pulled a small black box from his coat. Flipping the small box open, he looked at the shining silver colored band and its single round cut diamond.

Having been watching the man, Riza stepped forward to see what he was staring at. Her eyes widened when she saw the ring. "Colonel..."

"I was going to propose the night before she left, but the ring was done yet. I had planned on asking her tonight, I was going to surprise by taking her to the theater again." Roy trailed off, shut the jewelry box and tucked it back into his coat.

"We should get back to HQ," Riza suggested quietly.

* * *

A whole week had passed and Kate was still unaccounted for. The team had been working at all hours of the day and night to scour every single, tiny detail of the past murders and the case files to see if there was something, anything that could help them. They had found nothing and it was beginning to weigh Roy's shoulders down. He wasn't sleeping, he was barely eating and he barely spoke except to answer questions distractedly or snap out an order.

"M-maybe she got sick," Fuery suggested.

They were all once again gathered in the office. It was a complete mess, there were papers, pictures, maps, folders and coffee cups everywhere. With nothing new to be found, they had begun to grow restless. They wanted to do something that didn't require them to be stuck in an office at all times. To look for Kate out in the city, not just look for clues on paper.

Roy didn't reply, he just stayed seated behind his desk, his head in his hands and fingers buried in his hair.

"Is there any chance that something did happen to her," Havoc spoke up. "Is there anyway to find out if she was in an accident or is sick and just hasn't been able to call?"

Shaking his head, Roy sighed. "Not without going out there and I can't just up and go to Resembool for no reason. Besides, I would think that someone would have tried to contact us if that were the case."

"Well," Hawkeye began slowly. "You could always go out there on business."

He tilted a brow questioningly. "Business? How so?" Interested by what she was saying, Roy leaned back in his chair and fixed his eyes on the blond.

"You're trying to work your way up and what better way than to recruit skilled alchemists," she said.

"But Kate already works-"

"Not Kate," she cut in. "Her brothers."

"Aren't they a little young," Breda asked.

"They are. I also don't know their skill level, but I could still use that as an excuse to go."

"So when do we leave," Riza asked.

"Tomorrow morning."

* * *

"Thirty one," Roy asked skeptically, tilting his head to look at Riza.

Both were being escorted by a police officer to the Elric household. There were no vehicles in the town, the only transportation were old fashioned horse pulled carts like the one they were jostling around in. Or of course your own two feet, but since they had no idea where they were going, they opted for the police escort and the cart.

The blond shrugged. "It seems more believable that you're looking for a thirty one year old than a ten year old."

"Ed's not ten, he's eleven. His brother is ten."

"Does it matter? We need documentation of what we were doing, we can say that it was a typo later and that we found nothing."

Silence fell over the two, the only sounds were of the cart being pulled through the dirt and bumpy terrain.

"So what are you looking for the Elric brothers for," the officer steering the cart asked warmly.

"I was told they're quite skilled at alchemy," Roy replied smoothly. "And came to see for myself."

The officer chuckled. "Those boys are pretty skilled. They fixed up the Quartz's barn house just last week. I don't know about them being good enough for the military though. Their sister, Kate, now she's good, but she doesn't use alchemy often and I hear she already works for the military. You know her by chance?"

"No," Roy lied.

"Well, here we are. The Elric home."

Jolting to a slow stop, Roy and Riza took in the blue house that sat upon a private hill. No lights appeared to be on inside and no one appeared to be home, but that didn't stop Roy from trying the door anyway.

It was locked, but he circled the quaint house and found the back door to be open. Without hesitation, he pushed the door open and called out to see if anyone was home. There was no response and he stepped into the house, sensing that something was off. The moment he looked down and saw the drops of blood, he knew that something was wrong.

The blood was dry and dark, it had been there for several days. Following the trail of droplets down the hall to a partially open door that reveal nothing it was so dark, Roy pushed the door open. Light from the hall poured in and illuminated the small room. A large transmutation circle had been drawn on the floor and there was blood everywhere, puddled on the floor, smeared across the walls and books that lie open on their backs.

"Where are the Elric brothers," Roy shouted, turning on the surprised officer who hadn't seen the inside of the room and startling the shorter man.

"Uh..If they're not here, then they're probably at the Rockbell's. I can take you there if you'd like."

"Colonel," Riza inquired uneasily. She had seen the interior of the room and though she didn't practice alchemy herself, she knew enough to jump to the same conclusion that Roy had.

Human transmutation had been attempted here. But who was it that the Elric brothers had try to transmute?

The idea that Kate had something to do with the human transmutation circle never crossed Roy's mind, Kate would never attempt human transmutation, she knew the consequences.

"Take me to the Elric brothers, now," Roy ordered harshly, his fists clenched and shaking at his sides.

"Uh..Y-yes of course, this way," their escort replied in confusion over the sudden change in Roy's attitude and the serious set of his face.

It didn't take long for the three of them to clamber back into the wooden cart and set of back down the lane they had taken to the Elric's quaint home and follow another lane to a large home with signs that announced it to be the home of the Rockbell's, skilled surgeons the finest makers of prosthetic limbs. Throughout the duration of the ride, Roy couldn't take his eyes from the blue home on the hill. It looked so peaceful and quiet that he could understand why Kate loved Resembool, but the contrast between the outside and the interior was like night and day. The house held a dark secret and he wanted to know the details.

He barely waited for the cart to jolt to a stop before he leapt off of the cart and began to make his way authoritatively towards the home, glaring at a black and white dog that stood up to growl at him. Stomping past the dog, he knocked loudly and repeatedly on the door while the dog barked at the police officer behind him.

"Stop being noisy Den and be nice to the guests," Pinako scolded the barking dog, opening the door to step out only to be brushed aside when Roy barged in.

"Sorry for the intrusion, Mrs. Rockbell," he said to her as he stepped into her home.

"What's a military man want barging in here like that?"

"We heard that the Elric brothers would be here," Riza answered. "We're looking for them."

Roy's eyes narrowed when he caught sight of a familiar face sitting in a wheelchair, Edward Elric. Behind him was a person in a huge suit of armor that appeared to be pushing the wheelchair. Despite the fact that Roy could see that Edward's right arm and left leg were missing, he walked over to the boy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"We were just at your house," he growled. "What was that mess? Just what were trying to make? Or should I say who?"

Edward didn't look up, he let himself hang limply in the man's grasp and just stared blankly at the flooring.

"We're sorry, please just let him go." The person in the armor stepped forward, putting a hand on Roy's arm before repeating, "Sorry," over and over.

Setting Edward back into the wheelchair, Roy tried to reign in his temper. "Who did you try to make? Was it Kate?"

Edward jolted in his chair and blinked up at Roy blankly.

"Kate," the person in the armor asked. The voice was so innocent and full of youth that Roy suspected that it belonged to Kate's youngest brother Al.

Roy frowned, he had noticed that the weight of the hand that had been placed on his arm had been nearly non-existent and he was beginning to suspect that there really wasn't anyone inside of it though he had no idea how that was even possible.

"Is Kate alright," Edward asked, emotion visible on his face for the first time in days.

His frown deepened, they didn't know Kate was missing, it was obvious by the looks on their faces. "She's missing."

The look on Edward's face wasn't fake, he was surprised, but at the same time he almost looked realized and Roy couldn't say he blamed him. If Kate had seen what they had attempted, she probably would have severely hurt them if not disowned them.

"Kate's missing?" Pinako asked, stepping up beside Edward to stare up at Roy.

"Yes, ever since she was supposed to have returned to East City. No one there has seen her in over five weeks now, since the day she took a train out of the city to come here. We thought there might be a small chance that something had happened and that she was still here."

"Ah, I see, that's why you assumed that it was Kate these boys were trying to bring back," Pinako replied grimly. The old woman sighed. "I'll make some tea, please have a seat."

* * *

Please review!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 19**

**Passage of Time**

It had never been that difficult for Roy to remain detached from his work as a State Alchemist, a dog of the military was supposed to be able to do his duties, whatever they maybe, with no hint of emotion. Emotions just got in the way and hinder you from being able to complete the task assigned to you, especially the more vicious and bloody ones. It hadn't been easy to get this far, but he was now used to keeping his emotions under lock and key. Right now, however, it was rather difficult to not show emotion. He wanted to be angry at the two young boys in front of him, to yell at them for their idiocy, but also to tell them everything would be ok. He didn't do either, instead he simply gave them a choice.

"Become a dog of the military and have access to research funding and secret books and documents on alchemy that normal people would never see in their lifetime or stay as you are now. Both of you."

Neither boy said anything, Al shuffled uneasily from where he stood beside his older brother, the armor that was now his body squeaking quietly. Ed just stared at the table top, his eyes that had lacked life moments before were beginning to glimmer with determination.

Pinako snorted, pulling her pipe from her mouth and staring at Roy with a look of disapproval and possibly slight disgust. "What makes you think these boys are even skilled enough for State qualification?"

"The transmutation circle found in their home and the ability to transmute a soul are proof enough. Besides," Roy answered, chuckling softly. "If they're anything like they're sister then I'm sure they'll be fine."

The old woman huffed. "That...thing... they created... It wasn't human. Is that what alchemy is? Just a way to create monstrosities like that?! After what these boys have been through how could you want them to go through that again?!"

Sighing, Roy scratched at the side of his head idly. "What other choice do they have if they ever want to return to normal?"

There wasn't much of an argument for Pinako to give. Ed could live a fairly normal life in his condition, two missing limbs could be replaced with auto-mail easily, not painlessly, but easily enough. Al however, could never live a normal life while his soul was encased in the giant suit of armor. He couldn't eat, sleep, feel anything except for emotion and he couldn't let anyone know that he was nothing but an empty suit of armor that was being possessed by his soul.

"The choice is yours to make, I won't force you," Roy told the boys, adding in quietly, "Kate would kill me."

"W-what happened to Kate," Al asked shakily.

A frowned blossomed over his face and he shook his head, but managed to not show much more emotion. "I suppose it would be best to tell you the truth, I don't see what good lying would do... She was most likely kidnapped by someone with an interest in human transmutation. There were three victims before her, all similar in appearance, and all dead. She was helping with the case, she had been able to give us some clues after touching the first girl's body and seeing bits of her past-"

"Kate saw into her past?" Al inquired, surprised.

"You both knew about her ability to see into people's pasts on occasion, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but...It's just... I never would have thought that..." Al trailed off with a sigh.

"Poor Kate, that girl's had it tough too. Just what is your relationship to her anyways," Pinako spoke up, pointedly glaring at Roy.

"She was my secretary," Roy answered, but upon seeing one of Pinako's brows raising suspiciously, he decided to elaborate. "We were very good friends. We first met on the train she took to East City, I was the one who grabbed the necklace from Ed and kept her from falling out of the train."

"But you couldn't keep her from getting kidnapped," Pinako said gruffly.

Roy visibly winced and looked away. "There was little doubt that she was the next target of the murderer, the body of the last girl to go missing before Kate wound up on her doorstep. My team and I took as many precautions to keep Kate safe as we could. It seems that in the end we failed," he added the last sentence in a quiet sigh, his face showing his guilt briefly before he got a hold of himself and reverted back to that of the emotionless military man that he was.

Being much wiser than most, Pinako could easily see that there was more to the relationship between Kate and the alchemist before her, but she chose to keep quiet.

"Kate isn't dead," Ed spoke suddenly, startling everyone with the vigor in his voice and the fire that had sparked in his eyes as he narrowed the golden orbs at Roy.

"Big brother," Al began uncertainly.

"She's not," Ed repeated heatedly. "I can feel it. Kate's not dead, right Al?"

Al hesitated but nodded after a moment's thought. "Right, Kay's not dead."

He couldn't say anything. He wanted very much to believe the same thing as the two boy's in front of him and just as fervently, but he knew a lot more than they did about the patterns of the murderer. The only hope he had that she was alive was that her body had not been found. In many ways though that made him worry more. There was no telling what the person who held her prisoner was doing to her after all the things he had done to his previous victims and there was even a chance that this time there would be no body. Shaking his morbid thoughts off, he chose to think more positively and cling to the belief that Kate was still alive.

"I should get going. Here," Roy said, standing from his seat to hand an envelope and a card to Al. "If you decide to come to East City this should be helpful."

"Hey, Mustang," Ed called before the dark haired man could leave the room causing him to stop and look back curiously. "Find Kate for us since it'll be awhile before we can get to East City, alright?"

* * *

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kate growled defiantly. She was sitting on the floor of a small square room made entirely of stone, her small hands were encased in a wooden set of cuffs that didn't allow her to put them together and her feet were tucked underneath her. Small cuts and scratches marred her dirty face and her hair hung in messy clumps down her back.

"Still playing dumb, hm? That's quite alright, I know what I saw whether you admit to it or not." The voice that spoke belonged to the same old man that had saved Kate from the rabid dog in the alley where the body of Milly Huntz had been found. The same man that had been at the train station when she had arrived in East City over a week before.

"I don't give a damn what you think you saw," Kate snapped harshly. The volume of her own voice made her cringe, her head was aching badly, partly from not eating much besides the little bits of bread that were forced down her throat on a daily basis and partly due to whatever anesthetic was being used to knock her out whenever she got too hard to handle. Which was every few minutes.

The man sighed and shook his head disapprovingly. "That really is no way for a young lady to talk. Maria never talked that way, she was always so polite."

"Yeah, well I'm not Maria and I have no reason to be polite to a murderer, you bastard," she spat.

"Murderer? Me?" The man appeared thoroughly confused by her accusation and he blinked innocently at her. "I am no murderer, dear. I'm simply trying to bring my dear Maria back to me." He trailed off and his confusion melted away to be replaced by a longing look, he leaned closer to Kate and began to reach towards her. "You look so much like her. Maria.."

Spitting on the man's outstretched hand, Kate glared at him and scooted away. "Don't touch me, bastard. I'm not your Maria and I never will be."

"Hm? Is that so," the man's demeanor had changed again and all traces of the sad longing in his eyes was gone. "Those other girls were all disappointments, they just weren't strong enough to handle my dear Maria's soul. She was a strong woman, you know, very strong. Just like you. After all it's not every day that someone who has seen The Truth comes back in one piece. You may be the piece of the puzzle that I was missing. Don't worry Ms Elric, I'll be taking good care of you, my dear little sacrifice."

* * *

"Do you think he'll come," Riza asked of Ed, Al would be unable to become a State Alchemist since he lacked a body and that would be a big mistake to reveal to the military. Both she and Roy were back in the cart and jostling back towards Resembool's small train station.

"Oh, he'll come," Roy answered with certainty.

"But..His eyes, they looked dead," she noted.

Roy shook his head. "You're wrong. They were full of fire."

After a brief pause, Riza sighed, but chuckled softly. "You know that Kate will kill you if she finds out you offered to help her brother become a State Alchemist, right?"

Laughing sadly, he nodded. "Yeah, she'll be pissed alright, but... I made her a promise."

"A promise?" Riza asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, she made me promise that if something ever happened to her I would look out for her brothers. This is really the best I can do for them. At least it will give them a chance to try and restore their bodies."

"Colonel..."

"It's alright, Riza," Roy said, addressing her familiarly as he sometimes would when they were alone and weren't talking about business. He smiled at her, a half-hearted attempt to show her he still had hope. "I haven't given up on Kate yet."

* * *

"You're sure," Pinako asked Ed.

She was referring to Ed's decision to have his missing right arm and left leg replaced with high quality auto-mail so that he could make the most out of himself. He had every intention of returning Al to his body and if possible fixing his own too and he needed to be able to move normally to do that. This was the closest he could get to a normal body and he would endure the pain that made grown adults scream and cry uncontrollably.

The young blond was wrapped in bandages still, but he sat on a hospital bed in a room that smelled of sterilizer and metal. All around him were different tools and pieces of machinery. Both Pinako and Winry were wearing hospitals gowns, masks and gloves. Winry looked nervous, Pinako looked indifferent and Ed looked stubbornly resolute. Al who was poking his head through the door seemed nervous though it was hard to tell since there was no way for the metal of the helmet to make any expression.

"Yeah, I'm sure so just hurry up and get on with it old lady," Ed replied, setting his jaw strongly. "How long will the surgery and rehabilitation take?"

"All in all... about three years," Pinako answered, shooting a look at Al who was creeping slowly into the room and who hurriedly left after receiving her warning glare.

"One year," Ed stated. "I will be going to East City in one year."

Pinako smirked sadistically. "Well, you'll be vomiting blood and be in a hell of a lot of pain, but as long as you aren't going to regret this...Let get started."

* * *

_...One year later..._

"It's about time you got here," Roy remarked with an arrogant smirk. His dark eyes were assessing the short blond at the bottom of the steps, he'd grown in the last year and his right arm and leg appeared to be intact beneath his red cloak and black outfit, which left him with little doubt that Ed had decided to get himself auto-mail to replace the missing limbs. He was also happy to see that the look of fire was still there in his eyes. He was determined to get Al's body and his own back to normal, through the fire there was a slight hint of darkness, sadness, but he wasn't letting it interfere with his plans.

Ed snorted at the black haired man that was descending the steps of the East City's military headquarters. "Yeah, whatever, Lieutenant Colonel."

"I was promoted to Colonel in the year that you were being slow," Roy replied smugly, stopping a few steps from the bottom to stare down at the blond boy whose eyes reminded him almost painfully of Kate's now that they were much more full of life. Shaking off the feeling that over came him he let a sadistic grin find its way to his face and casually tucked his hands into his pockets. "So, are you ready to become a dog of the military?"

"Woof woof," Ed mocked stubbornly. "Want me to wag my tail too?"

Roy couldn't help but to smirk. The boy's attitude was similar to Kate's and it was refreshing in a way."No, I don't think that will be necessary."

There was a long pause in which Ed frowned and sighed, looking away from the Colonel to stare down the main street of East City. "Has there been any word on Kate? Anything?"

Taking a deep breath, Roy ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes to release it. "No, there's been nothing."

"She's not dead," Ed stated vehemently, startling Roy when he turned his gold eyes on him. It had been obvious to Ed that even without saying it out loud that Roy felt there was little hope left that Kate was still alive after so much time had passed since her disappearance. Something Ed refused to believe, Al too. The both of them felt certain that their sister was still very much alive and while they searched the world for a way to restore themselves, they would search for her too and they would never give up hope.

She would never give up on them and they had no intention of giving up on her.

* * *

He stood in awe, his dark eyes widening and his jaw falling open slightly. Edward Elric had just used alchemy, but that wasn't the shocker. He had done so with no transmutation circle, he had simply clapped his hands together and placed them on the floor from which he produced a long spear. Roy continued to stand in awe even when Ed ran headlong at the Fuhrer, spear aiming for his throat.

None of what was happening registered. All Roy knew was that somehow Ed was able to perform alchemy without a drawn transmutation circle, just like Kate had been able to do, and he wanted to know how that was possible. There was little doubt in his mind that human transmutation played some role in the reason why the now twelve year old boy was able to use alchemy with no circle, but that just left him wondering how in the world it was possible that Kate could do the same. She had never attempted human transmutation or anything of the like. The only thing Roy could think of was that she had come into contact with someone who had knowledge of it at some point, but that just left him wondering who since she was always so careful about who she touched.

He decided that he would eventually ask Ed, though he doubted the boy trusted him enough to tell him the truth.

* * *

"You're a lot like your sister, you know that," Roy remarked after the ending of the exam while he walked with Ed to meet Riza outside so they could make the return to East City and await the results of Ed's test. To Roy there was no doubt that Ed had passed.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that I can see similarities between the two of you. You both have short tempers, are stubborn and apparently do things without thinking about the consequences more often-"

"I'm not short," Ed grumbled, sulking angrily.

A dark brow rose in amusement. There was that stubbornness again.

"How'd it go, Colonel," Riza inquired when the two approached her.

"It was quite the show actually. Too bad you missed it, it was interesting to watch," Roy replied.

"If you keep talking about it I'll charge you a viewing fee," Ed muttered.

"Prank or not, kid, I suggest you don't point a spear at the Fuhrer again. You're lucky you lived through it this time," Roy said, chuckling at the look of surprise on Riza's face. "Once you're approved you'll be bound to the military and the state, anyone who shows disloyalty will be severely punished."

"Doesn't the same go for you too," Ed inquired seriously, his eyes corning over to the man beside him and containing far more knowledge than most twelve year olds possessed. When Roy looked confused, Ed continued. "When I pointed that spear at him you didn't even move like everyone else did, you just stood there."

Roy blinked. "Unbelievable. Can you believe this kid," he asked Riza acting appalled by the accusation.

The blond woman sighed, shaking her head and closing her eyes briefly. "You should at least take a pose in those situations, Colonel."

Shrugging, Roy disregarded the comment. "Well, it would have made it easier on me if you had killed the Fuhrer. It would have opened up a higher position for me. Oh, well too bad."

Ed looked at him incredulously. "After scolding me for pointing a spear at him you say that?!" He chuckled darkly. "It's alright, now I have some good info. Should I tell on you to the higher ups?"

"You consider that a threat," Roy replied with a big smile. "You should feel threatened, not me."

"Huh?"

"One of the major rules of alchemy is 'do not transmute humans', isn't it? What do you think would happen if I told the higher ups what you did? Not only would you be in trouble but your brother-"

"Dammit, you bastard," Ed growled, preparing to lunge at Roy.

"Cool it, Ed," Roy said authoritatively, stopping to face the angry blond and give him a look that said he had no intention of doing anything he had said. "I'm just reminding you that you need to step carefully otherwise you could land in a whole lot of trouble and I made a promise to Kate to look after you. It'll be hard to do that if you wind up dead or in prison and Al ends up in some scientist's lab."

Ed started and blinked. "You promised Kay that, why?"

"Like I said before we were good friends," he answered almost tiredly.

Frowning, Ed eyed the dark eyed man suspiciously. "I find that hard to believe."

"And why's that," Roy asked disinterestedly, continuing their walk to a waiting car.

He smirked evilly. "Because Kate couldn't stand you. In fact, it's safe to say that she hated your guts. With a passion. She was always complaining about what a pain in the ass you were. She even said that you were the biggest-"

"Shut up and get in the car before I make you walk back to East City," Roy snapped in annoyance.

"I was just telling the truth," Ed said innocently though the grin on his face was far from innocent.

"There was something else," Roy spoke up after a few minutes of silence while Riza drove. "When I said you were like your sister. I was also talking about the fact that you could both perform alchemy without a circle."

The comment seemed to stun Ed, his gold eyes widened and he jolted in his seat. "W-What are you talking about? Kate couldn't perform alchemy without a circle. It's impossible."

At first Roy was unsure whether to believe him or not, but it was easy to see that Ed wasn't lying. The boy was truly surprised by the fact that Kate could perform alchemy with no circle and it was also obvious that he didn't fully believe it either.

"It's not impossible," Roy replied, leaning into his seat and folding his arms over his chest. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"No, there's no way that Kate-"

"Why," Roy cut in sharply earning himself a menacing glare from Ed. "Why is it impossible?"

Letting his anger simmer down, Ed ground out, "Because... Kate never tried to transmute a human. She wouldn't do something like that."

"I agree," Roy replied, which only earned him another glare since Ed now believed he was being manipulated into speaking about why he was able to perform alchemy by simply clapping his hands together. "That doesn't make it any less true that she can in fact perform alchemy the same way you do. My idea is that she saw something in someone's past that allowed her to be able to do that. I'm just curious what. She had mentioned 'the Gate' at one point." Roy didn't fail to notice the way Ed started at the mention of 'the Gate'.

"You and Kate must have been pretty close," Ed observed, his eyes had narrowed and he was watching Roy with a look that said he believed he was hiding something from him and he wanted to know what. "She also must have trusted you a lot to tell you so much about herself and to mention '_that_'. Doesn't mean I trust though."

He chuckled to himself. "Kate trusted me, we had an understanding and I made her a promise. A promise I broke the day she was kidnapped and I wasn't there to protect her. That's besides the point, your sister and you can both perform alchemy and the look in your eyes when I mentioned 'the gate' was similar to hers. You looked frightened, why?"

Ed frowned and hesitated. "What all did she tell you about it?"

"Not much. She said that she had no idea where she had seen, but that she vaguely remembered being told not to go near it, let alone look into it."

"Yeah," Ed sighed wearily. "That's a lot easier than it sounds."

"How so," Roy pressed.

Shooting him a look that expressed his dissatisfaction with the topic, Ed growled under his breath, but chose to continue speaking. "When you perform a human transmutation you don't have much choice but to go inside that thing. Once you're standing before it you can't help but to want to see inside it. The pull is strong, but... The price of learning the Truth is high." He glanced at his left leg and shifted in his seat.

"The Truth?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah, it's like an unspeakable amount of knowledge gets crammed into your brain all at once. It makes you feel like your head is going to explode, after that...well...You can see the price I paid for just one look."

"If you lost your leg as payment, what happened to your arm," Roy asked.

"It was the price for Al's soul. It was all I could manage," Ed replied guiltily, shifting his attention to stare out the window of the moving car.

"What happened to Al's body?"

"I...don't know. All I can figure is that if his soul is still intact then his body has to be alive somewhere in there."

"That still doesn't really explain how Kate was able to perform alchemy with no circle."

"If she's seen the Gate then she's probably seen inside of it too. She might not remember that part though, it might have been when she was really young and it was too traumatizing to remember," Ed suggested, his demeanor still withdrawn while he thought of the brother that waited back in Resembool for him.

Thinking to himself, Roy remained silent, staring out the front window at the path ahead of them. "I suppose it makes sense that she doesn't remember anything," he said after a long silence. "When Kate saw 'the Gate' after touching Leanna Woodson's body she fainted she was so scared, maybe that was enough to jog her memory of it, but not of seeing the inside of it. I really thought you might be able to explain that."

"I didn't even know. She never told us."

"It was something your father told her not to tell anyone apparently. It's not hard to understand why given the circumstances that seem to swirl around those with that particular ability."

Ed's gold eyes flashed at the mention of their father, but he didn't say a word, he just folded his arms over his chest and slouched in his seat. "Yeah, I guess," he grumbled.

* * *

It would be two days of waiting impatiently in East City before Ed received word that his results on his test to become a State Alchemist were in. He was currently seated across from Roy's desk in the seat that he was unaware used to be Kate's, sneering at the Colonel since the man was taking his time in reading through the few lines on the sheet of paper he held before him.

"Well," Roy began, lowering the paper from his face and lazily looking over at Ed while opening the top right drawer of his desk. "You'll want this," he said, tossing a silver pocket watch with the emblem of the state engraved on it at Ed.

Catching the watch easily, Ed studied the symbol on its front.

"Welcome to the military, Edward Elric. You now belong to the government. Hope you don't end up regretting this."

"I won't," Ed replied, placing the watch that signified him as a State Alchemist and also amplified alchemical reactions into his left pocket. "Are we done here? I need to get home."

"Not just yet," Roy said, handing the sheaf of paper he had been reading out to him. "This is the contract of a State Alchemist. It has your second name on it, too. The Fuhrer has a bit of a sense of humor it seems."

Giving Roy a confused look, Ed took the paper from him and read through the contents. He laughed part way through and looked up with a grin. "Full Metal, huh? I'll take it."

* * *

I'm ridiculously tired and I apologize for any grammar or other mistakes. I didn't edit this chapter very well at all. Expect updates to be a bit of a wait for awhile I've been really sick, turns out my intestines are stupid.

Anywho, check out my profile if you haven't in awhile there is info up on the stories I have plans on writing in the near future. Summaries and the pairings and such. Also, my Naruto fic is up now. And for those of you who like Ouran High School Host Club check out my Broken Princess story, I'm not getting a lot of feedback on that one and would like some more or I'm just going to put it on hold and focus on other stories.

Well, please review!


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 20**

**Passage of Time**

"I don't know what you're talking about."

The voice speaking was that of a woman, but it was worn, tired and without life. Just like the woman's golden eyes that were staring blankly at the man that was watching her from a wooden stool several yards away.

The man sighed, lifting his head from his hand to scratch at his head. "It's been one year since I brought you here, dear, you're still saying that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the woman repeated monotonously.

"You really are so much trouble. I know you know something about The Gate and The Truth so why don't you be a good little girl and tell me."

"I don't know what you're-" The golden eyes woman was cut off when a palm collided harshly with her cheek. Ignoring the pain and the blood that was dribbling from her lips, she looked up at the man that was standing menacingly over her, a spark of life in her blank eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm growing tired of these games. You will tell me what you know and you will help me to bring back my dear Maria," the man informed bitterly. "It wasn't originally my intention, but I did a little digging on you dear. I now know quite a bit about you. Your mother is dead, your dad left when you were young and you have two younger brothers that you cherish more than anything. Should I go and pay a visit to those two cute little brothers of yours?"

The girl's eyes widened and the chains connected the wooden cuffs on her arms to the wall behind her clinked together when she jolted at the threat. "Don't touch them, you bastard," she growled darkly, narrowing her eyes to glare at her now smirking captor.

"Ah, there's that fire I like so much about you. It's been awhile since I've seen it. If you want your brothers to remain in one piece I suggest you start telling me how it is that you can perform alchemy with no transmutation circle and why you have all of your limbs and organs intact."

"Isn't it obvious," she snapped hatefully. When the man's brow raised in anticipation of her answer, she continued. "I just can."

Frowning, the man sighed and shook his head. "Such a pity dear. I was really hoping that your stubborn streak was over with."

The young woman snorted sardonically. "I will tell you as many times as I have to before you get it through that insane brain of yours. I don't know what you're talking about. And a warning, those boys are under the protection of the Flame Alchemist, you sure you want to mess with him? A freak like you won't stand a chance against him."

"I'm growing tired of your stubbornness. It's time you took a nap." Turning his back on her, he picked something up off of the table and after fiddling with it for a few moments, turned back to face her. A syringe in his hand and a sadistic grin on his wrinkling face. "I assure you my dear that you will tell me about how it's possible for someone to see inside The Gate and come back without paying a price."

"I've never been inside of The Gate," she sneered. Her eyes never left the syringe that was slowly coming towards her, she knew better than to struggle by now and she preferred the darkness that the drug brought her compared to the hell she was in when she was awake.

She knew by now that what the man was looking for was a way to bring his dead wife's soul back and put it into her body, but he was having trouble finding a way to do this without damaging the host's body. He thought that she had the answer to this problem and no matter how many times she told him she had no idea what it was he wanted from her, he wouldn't listen.

The threats he made to harm her or her brothers didn't matter to her, she knew her brothers were being looked after and were safe. And if her life were to end, she had decided that she wouldn't mind because that seemed to be her only possible escape from the crazed man that was holding her hostage. It didn't matter how much time she spent locked up like an animal or what he did to her or the threats he spewed, she wouldn't tell him anything and if he killed her, then so be it. It would finally put an end to her suffering since she had long since given up hope of ever being found. She was no fool. She had been working on the case of the murderer in front of her and she was well aware how much information they had on him. Or the lack of it.

The only clue they had was the sketch she had helped with after running into the man in the alley, but now that she had spent a year as his prisoner she knew the sketch would do anyone little good. He had been wearing make up and had even died his hair a darker shade than it naturally was and then worn it in a style different than usual. He looked like nothing like the sketch she had provided the police with, though there were some similarities, she doubted that anyone would ever notice if they ran into him in the street in broad daylight and he flashed them his false smile.

The smirk on the man's face grew. "Progress. You've admitted that you know about The Gate."

Gasping, her eyes widened, but before she could protest the needle was in her neck and her world was going blissfully black.

* * *

_~A little over two years later~_

Roy sat behind his desk, the sun pouring in through the bright window behind him, a stark contrast to the dark glare on his face while he stared up at his long time friend. Maes Hughes.

Of course this did nothing to intimidating the dark haired man, he simply leaned against Roy's desk, smiling jovially the entire time while he gushed about his two year old daughter. "Have I shown you this picture yet? Isn't she adorable," Hughes sang, pulling a photo out of his pocket and thrusting it into Roy's face.

Smacking the man's hand away in frustration, Roy stood up and slammed his hands down on his desk causing everything on it to rattle. "You've shown me that picture about a hundred times in the last ten minutes, Hughes! Now why don't you tell me what the hell you're doing here!"

Tucking the photo back into his pocket, Hughes stepped away from Roy's desk and straightened up. "Jeez, Roy. There's no need to get so worked up. You really need to learn to relax sometimes."

"How am I supposed to relax when I'm being forced to listen to you ramble about your wife and daughter," Roy snapped. "It's annoying!"

"Sheesh, you really know how to spoil a man's good mood."

Dropping back down into his seat, Roy took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. "What are you doing in East City, Hughes?" He asked stiffly.

After adjusting his glasses, the man took a more serious pose. "There are rumors in Central that a former State Alchemist who abandoned his post over four years ago is hiding out here. I was asked to investigate the rumor. If it's true that this man is hiding out here I am to take him into custody and escort him to Central."

"How come I haven't heard these rumors," Roy asked.

Hughes shook his head. "Don't know. I don't even know where the rumors came from, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm here under orders. Can I expect your help on this one?"

Scowling at the idea of adding even more work onto his already busy schedule, Roy nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"Good," Hughes chirped, his demeanor going from serious to what Roy liked to consider insane. "Now why don't we go and grab some tea and catch up. What do you say old friend?"

"No," Roy answered blandly.

"Aw. Why not?" Hughes whined.

"I'm busy and I have a date tonight."

Hughes sighed and scratched at his head. "That's a lie. You might be able to fool everyone else with all your womanizing comments, but you can't fool me, Roy."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hughes. If you're done here I'd like to ask you to leave, I have a lot of work to do," he replied, ignoring his friend's probing eyes and shuffling through the papers on his desk to look busy.

"It's been over three years-"

"Three years, two months, two weeks and five days," Roy cut in. He never looked up from the papers on his desk, but he was no longer shuffling through them in an attempt to look busy. "That's how long ago Kate disappeared."

Frowning sadly at Roy, Hughes took a seat in an empty chair. Propping his head up with his fist, he tried to smile, but found it difficult to do when the topic of their conversation was one that Roy usually tried to avoid. "I know you miss her, Roy and that's alright. You're allowed to, but you can't keep going like this. You might be able to fool everyone else into thinking that you've moved, but you can't fool me. Kate wouldn't want to see you like this. It's time you let her go, Kate's not-"

"Kate is not dead!"

Startled by the outburst, both Roy and Hughes looked up to see a blond boy with golden eyes staring angrily at Hughes. He was dressed mostly in black except for a red cloak like coat and white gloves that covered his fisted hands. Behind him stood what Hughes assumed was a large person in an obviously large suit of armor. Little did he know that the interior of the armor was empty.

"Ed? What are you doing here?" Roy inquired.

"I don't know who you are, but my sister is not dead. Do you hear me," Ed shouted, stomping his way into Roy's office.

"Brother," Al spoke up uneasily. Afraid that his hot headed brother was going to do something rash, he followed him into the office, sticking as close to him as possible.

Hughes could only blink at Ed, he was stunned by the similarities between the boy in front of him and Kate. The most obvious trait they shared was their odd bright golden eyes. It took him a moment to break the hold the familiar eyes had on him, but when he did, he grinned widely.

"Huh?" Was all Ed could manage to splutter out in confusion before he found himself engulfed in the stranger's arms.

"You look so much like your sister! You're so cute! It's no wonder she couldn't stop talking about her little brothers!"

"Al," Ed cried. "Help me!"

"Um..." Not really sure what was going on, Al looked over at Roy in confusion while Ed continued to try and struggle away from Hughes who now had an arm wrapped around the boy's shoulders and was shoving the photo of his daughter he always carried with him into his face.

"Would you two shut up," Roy barked, glaring at his best friend and Ed.

Freezing at the sound of Roy's raised voice, Ed and Hughes stopped fighting with one another and using this opportunity to get away, Ed inched slowly away from the crazed man and closer to his younger brother attempting to hide behind him.

"Hughes, out!" Roy snapped, pointing towards the door for added emphasis to show he was serious.

"Aw, but I just got here," he complained. "Besides, I just met the famous Full Metal Alchemist, you can't expect me to-"

"Out," Roy ordered again.

"Fine, fine. There's no need to be so mean. I'll see you later, Roy." He made his way towards the door, stopping by Ed, who stayed as far away as he could. "Sorry for upsetting you, it wasn't my intention."

"Yeah, whatever," Ed grumbled stubbornly. "But Kate isn't dead."

Hughes smiled wanly and nodded. "I hope you're right."

"So who was that," Ed asked grouchily, taking a seat in front of Roy's desk and making himself comfortable while Al stayed standing beside him.

"That was Maes Hughes, an old friend from Central," Roy answered automatically. "So to what do I owe this visit?"

Ed shrugged. "We were in the area and thought we'd stop by. Our last tip turned out to be nothing more than a hoax by some village kids. I don't think they'll be pulling anymore pranks though," he explained, grinning devilishly.

Shaking his head, Roy replied, "Sorry to say I haven't had any information that could help you in sometime. I'm afraid you're on your own, kid."

"I was afraid of that," Ed grumbled.

"Is he gone," Havoc asked, carefully poking his head in the doorway. "Oh, hey Ed, Al."

"Hey," Ed grumbled.

"Hello Lieutenant Havoc," Al replied cheerily. "How are you?"

"Not bad now that Hughes is gone, that guy can be a bit much sometimes," Havoc chuckled, stepping into the room followed by Fuery, Breda and Falman. "I hope you boys have been taking care of yourselves and eating all your vegetables and showering everyday and what not."

"We're not kids," Ed snapped.

Havoc grinned in reply. Every time the two boys came around which wasn't really all that often it made everyone in the office remember Kate. After all, Ed had her eyes and at times the way Ed acted was just like Kate. Even the way he would sit and grumble to himself when he thought that no one was paying much attention was just like Kate and it made everyone miss her. The search for Kate had long since ended when there was just no clues and nowhere to look for her, at first that hadn't stopped them from trying, but after several months of nothing but going over and over the same information it became obvious that unless something new turned up the chances of finding Kate were slim.

They felt guilty for not searching for her, but they didn't have many options. The higher ups were pushing them to focus on other things that hadn't yet hit a dead end and they had to do as they were told. Now with the amount of time that had passed it was hard to think that there was any chance that Kate was still alive, but they all knew that the brothers vehemently believed that she was and refrained from saying anything to them and instead let them cling to hope.

It was hard on Roy to hear Ed and Al voicing their belief that Kate was still alive. He wanted to believe them, believe that Kate really was alive somewhere, but that brought up a lot of questions. Most were ones that he didn't want to think about the answers to. In the end he found himself not know what to believe, the majority of people around him believed her to be dead. It seemed the most likely possibility now that she had been missing for so long without a single trace.

"Well in that case we'll be on our way. There's no point hanging out with a bunch of old guys if you don't even have any information that might help," Ed stated, shoving himself from his seat. "Lets go, Al."

"Yes, brother. Bye everyone."

"Did I say you could leave yet," Roy asked, smirking when Ed turned to give him a a dirty look. Lounging comfortably in his chair, Roy waited until Ed had shuffled angrily over to his desk to continue. "I've got a job for you. I want you to go to Lior, it's a small town in the middle of the desert north of here. It's a religious town and I've heard rumors lately that there is a new priest that might be trouble. I want you to go and take a look."

"You want me to go poke around in the desert to make sure some priest is behaving himself? Have someone else do it," Ed argued.

"Brother," Al sighed.

"You know I could have you thrown in jail for disobeying orders, right?" Roy grinned at Ed while the boy glared at him.

Grumbling a string of curses, Ed stalked from the room, Al following after him and waving his goodbyes to everyone.

"Once you're done in Lior I expect you to check in with me and report what you've learned, if anything. I just might have some new info for you by then," Roy called after the boys. "That kid gets more annoying each time I see him. He really needs to learn to respect his elders."

"Well maybe if you acted your age, Colonel, he would," Riza said pointedly, walking into the room with a bundle of papers in her arms that she dropped on Roy's desk.

"What's all that?"

"What's it look like, Colonel, it's today's work," Riza replied, turning away she took a seat at her desk, fixing the dark haired man with a stare that told him he had better get to work or he would regret it.

"But there's so much," Roy complained. "I know, I'll go get some coffee to wake me up and then I'll get started."

"Sit down," Riza snapped.

Flinching at the shout, Roy slowly and sulkily lowered himself into his seat. "I was only going to get some coffee."

"More like disappear for three hours only to be found napping in the garden again," Havoc snorted.

"I thought it was in the broom closet," Breda asked.

"Are you sure it wasn't the sauna in the gym," Falman added.

Fuery shook his head. "No, no, no. It was in the back of one of the broken down cars in the repair area."

"Actually, it was all of those places," Riza informed the stiffly. "And since I'm in no mood to hunt you down today you're not moving from that seat until you're done with that paperwork."

"But what about lunch," Roy whined.

"Here ya go, Colonel," Breda called, tossing a brown paper bag at him. "It's tuna fish. Made it myself."

"Problem solved," Riza said. "Now get to work."

"Sometimes it feels like I'm not the one in charge here," he mumbled to himself, stuffing the tuna sandwich into a drawer and picking up a pen. Part of him almost wished Hughes would come back, anything was better than doing paperwork. Anything.

* * *

"That damned Colonel who does he think he is," Ed muttered to himself.

He and Al were just leaving the train station, they had two tickets to some town they had never even heard of that was almost ten miles from their actual destination of Lior. It turned out that Roy hadn't been lying when he had said that the town was in the middle of the desert. The train didn't leave until the following afternoon so they were going to stay at a local military inn for the night to rest up for their journey. Once they got into the nameless town the day after leaving East City they would have to walk the rest of the way to Lior and they would need their strength since it was going to be a long walk in dry heat with only what they could carry as supplies.

"Hey brother," Al asked while they walked.

"What is it?"

Al hesitated. "It's just...Do you really think that Kay is still alive? I mean-"

"Kay is alive, Al," Ed cut in, his voice ripe with certainty. "I know it. I can sense it."

"Do you think she's alright?"

Ed frowned, flexing his auto-mail fingers he avoided looking up at Al. "I don't know, but she's out there somewhere and we will find her. One day we will find Kate and bring her home."

"Where she belongs, right brother?"

"Yeah, where she belongs and where we can take care of her. She's all we've got left, Al. I won't give up on her. Ever."

* * *

Hehe.

Well, hope everyone was happy with the latest installment of What Was Lost. It was originally quite a bit longer, but the beginning was different. After adding in the new beginning I decided to change the ending, so expect the next chapter to be fairly short but full of tension and drama.

Please review.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 21**

**What Was Lost**

"Hey Roy, mind if I borrow a person or two? I've got a tip and need some help checking it out to see if it pans out or not."

Glancing up from his paperwork, which seemed to have inexplicably tripled since the day before when he had first seen Hughes, Roy scowled. "Can't you see we're busy, Hughes."

"It's just you that's busy, Colonel since you showed up two hours late," Breda spoke up. "I'm free."

"Me too," Havoc chirped. "I'd love to get out of the office, it's such a nice day out."

"The two of you can go, Falman and Fuery can help out too unless they have work to do," Riza added.

"What about you, Hawkeye? Want to join us," Hughes asked cheekily.

"No, I'll stay here and make sure the Colonel does his work."

Roy groaned dejectedly, wanting nothing more than to get out of his office and do something that wasn't paperwork. Like dust off his books in his actual office, it had been awhile since he'd done that.

"Well kids, don't have too much fun," Hughes sang with far too much energy for Roy's liking. He then disappeared from the room with everyone but Riza in tow.

"You should get back to work. Paperwork doesn't sign itself you know," Riza said blandly, picking up a book from her desk and flipping to a page near the center.

* * *

"What exactly are we doing out here?" It was Havoc that asked the question that was on the forefront of everyone's mind. He had a cigarette popped into his mouth and he was looking around in confusion while scratching at the back of his head.

"We're looking for someone and I have reliable source out here that says this is the area to start looking," Hughes answered seriously.

"So who are we looking for," Fuery asked.

Digging into the pocket of the black coat he was wearing over his uniform, Hughes pulled out several sheafs of paper. He passed each person their own sheet and let them examine the three sketches on it. "The largest sketch in the center is most likely what he looks like now, the others are how he looked in the past. He would be fifty one this year, dark brown hair and brown eyes. His name is Geoffry Heartner, though it's doubtful he still goes by that name since he's trying to hide and all. "

"You want us to split up and ask the people in the neighborhood if they know him," Falman inquired.

"That's right," Hughes replied. "If we can't find him in this section we'll keep scouring East City until we find him. Lets get started shall we," Hughes sang in a cheesy enthusiastic pitch. "The sooner this is over with the sooner I can get back to my dear wife and daughter."

"Talk about mood swings," Breda mumbled.

"Can you blame him," Falman spoke up. "He deals with a lot of serious things that make our work look like child's play. Acting that way probably helps him take his job a little less seriously."

"In his line of work that's probably a good thing," Havoc finished. "What do you say we get this show on the road?"

After deciding who would investigate where it was decided that the group would meet back up in the same spot in two hours to report their findings, if there were any. To their surprise they all found out a great deal, including the address of the building that the man who now called himself Geoff Heart lived in.

"I wasn't expecting to get so much information in just two hours," Hughes said, rubbing at his neck while looking over a several sheets of paper that had the information everyone had collected written on them. "This is good though, means I might just get to head back home a lot earlier than I had expected."

"So what now? It's still early are we going to go and check this place out to see if it really is the guy we're looking for," Havoc inquired.

"Couldn't hurt," Hughes replied thoughtfully. "We'll find a nice place to watch from a distance. I wasn't expecting to find him so quickly, I'll need to put a team together and move in on him tomorrow once we've confirmed that it really is Geoffry Heartner."

* * *

Riza raised her brown eyes from her book that she was very nearly done with when Hughes walked in, followed by the four men who had gone out to assist him. "How'd it go?"

"Unbelievably well," Hughes answered. "It's almost too good to be true just how well."

"You found some helpful information it sounds like," Roy asked, glad for the interruption and dropping his pen to massage his tired wrist.

"More than that, we found our man," Hughes replied happily. "Seems like I'll be out of you hair by this time tomorrow. That is if you don't mind helping me put a team together to go in and retrieve the guy."

"You found your target already? That sure was fast," Roy observed. Leaning back into his chair, he savored every moment of his temporary freedom from the boring mounds of paperwork.

Hughes scratched at his stubbly chin. "Tell me about it. I wasn't expecting things to go so well on my first day here. There's no doubt that I've got my man though. He looks different, a lot older and worn, but it's definitely him."

"So he was hiding in plan sight?" Riza mused.

Shrugging, Hughes answered. "Seems that way. Most of the shop owners and peddlers we talked to all at least recognized him. Said he was a very nice man, but that he kept to himself more often than not. He lives alone in a pretty decent one story house in an older neighborhood."

"Take whoever you want tomorrow. Riza can assist you if you need a skilled gunman. She could use a break from the office," Roy suggested, adding, "And from ordering me around like a dog," under his breath.

"Someone has to do it or nothing would ever get done," Riza shot back sternly.

"I'm going to go make a report to Central, I'll take whoever you can spare. Riza's help would be appreciated though I hear this guy used to be pretty skilled with a gun. It doesn't look like age has treated him kindly so I doubt he'll be a problem, but just in case having someone like her around would make me feel at ease."

* * *

"Here's the plan," Hughes said to the group of people gathered around him that consisted of Roy's tea as well as a few other soldiers that Hughes didn't personally know.

They were all gathered outside of the brick fence that surrounded the house of Geoff Heart, AKA Geoffry Heartner. The wall was tall enough to hide them from view from the house and since they were gathered along the south wall, from the eyes of any onlookers for the time being.

"There is only one opening in the fence at the front of the house. We'll go in there and circle the-" Hughes was cut off by a series of shouts that were followed by a bone chilling scream that hung in the air for several long seconds. His eyes widening, her turned to look behind him at the house they were about to raid, but he was unable to see much with the wall blocking his view.

"What was that," Fuery inquired shakily, cowering behind Falman while looking in the direction the scream had come from.

"I don't-" Once again Hughes was cut off by an agonized scream, this one seemed to be ripe with pain and fear. When the scream faded the group exchanged uncertain and weary looks, the world around them seemed far too quiet all of sudden. There were no birds chirping, no wind rustling through the trees, nothing just silence.

"Time to go," Hughes said.

Everyone nodded and followed after him. Running through the gate that led to the house, the group circled it to ensure that no matter what, their target didn't escape them. Hughes, Riza and Falman made their way to the front door and Riza swiftly shot the knob off of the door. Falman kicked it open and drew his gun before stepping into the dark house, followed by Riza and then Hughes.

The atmosphere in the house felt oddly heavy, the shadows appeared to be too long and the sickening sweet scent that lingered over everything was nauseating. Searching the rooms one by one, they didn't find a single person in the house. It was fairly well kept, but there were dirty dishes in the sink and books and magazines lying haphazardly throughout the living room.

"Over here," Riza called, grabbing the attention of Hughes and Falman who were conversing with Havoc through a door that led to the backyard.

"What is it," Hughes asked urgently, making his way over to Riza to see that she had opened a door he had thought was to a pantry to find that it actually opened to a dark stairway. There was a dim light at the bottom, judging by the way it was flickering it was a candle.

A series of looks was exchanged and Riza plunged into the darkness, maneuvering down the stairs quickly and silently. There was another door at the bottom of the steps that she pushed open slowly, her gun held at the ready should anyone try to attack her. Falman and Havoc rushed into the room after her, but they found that the only thing in the room were two candles in steel holders against the far wall that illuminated yet another door.

Hughes watched Roy's team work and it wasn't hard for him to see why had chosen them. They worked well together and they performed their duties exceptionally well. Except for Fuery who was cowering in the kitchen still, but that was understandable to Hughes. Fuery wasn't used to being out in the field, his skills had less to do with fighting and more to do with being an expert in communication and surveillance devices.

"There was something this guy really wanted to hide," Breda stated, making his way down the stairs to stand by Hughes.

"It would certainly seem that way," Hughes replied solemnly, his eyebrows drawn together and a frown pulling at his lips when Havoc opened the door across from them.

Riza gasped when the door was pushed open to reveal a dungeon like room that was lit only by the candles that were flickering by the door. The smell here was overwhelming, metallic and bitter, but slightly sweet. In the center of the room was a body and judging by what could be seen of his face, the man that they were looking for.

"Does someone have a flashlight," Hughes called.

It took a several minutes, but a flashlight found its way into Hughes' hand and once he flicked it on, he stepped forward to shine the beam on the body in the center of the room. He grimaced at the sight of it. The man's eyes were open wide in terror and his mouth was stuck in an eternal scream. Blood was dripping out of his mouth and everywhere Hughes looked there was more of the red substance.

"There's a lot of blood. It doesn't look like it came from just him," Hughes observed, moving the flashlight's beam across the floor and wall in front of him. He had yet to examine the opposite wall, the one the door opened out of, but he figured he'd find the same thing there.

"I've seen something like this before," Riza said, her eyes widening when she saw the transmutation circle on the floor beneath the corpse.

Hughes never had a chance to question her about what she meant. There was a raspy, wet intake of breath from behind and them and they whirled around, Riza drawing her gun and Hughes preparing to throw a dagger or two if needed. When the beam of light landed on another body that was propped up by the door, covered in blood and missing a leg, Hughes found it hard to believe the person was alive. The amount of blood pooled around them was more than enough of a reason for them to be dead. It was when the beam illuminated the dirty, thin and blood smeared face of an unconscious woman that he nearly dropped the flashlight in shock.

It took him several seconds to find his voice and when he did, it came out as little more than a whisper. "Get Roy down here. Now."

Riza couldn't move, her eyes were transfixed on the face of the bony girl that was sitting in a growing pool of her own blood.

"What's going on," Havoc asked, poking his head around the door to see what the commotion was all about. His cigarette fell from his lips and he gaped open mouthed down at the person on the floor. "No way."

It was Falman that would jump into action, stirring everyone out of their dazes when he walked into the room to see for himself what was causing everyone to pale and look like they had seen ghost. Crouching down by the emaciated girl, he used two fingers to gently feel for a pulse on her neck. "She's alive, but she's needs medical attention. Quickly." He pulled off the black overcoat he was wearing to protect him from the cold and began to rip into pieces. "Havoc, call for an ambulance. Riza.. you should call Roy."

* * *

A/N- It's a bit short, I know, but it was originally going to be the ending to the last chapter. I decided that I wanted to split it up instead and prolong the tension. Hopefully it worked.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, I really appreciate it. I apologize for not answering the majority of the reviews, I just haven't really had a lot of time to do much outside of work lately..

Please review!


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 22**

**Found**

"What the hell did you call me out here for," Roy questioned Hughes gruffly. "I had to cancel my date. So this had better be good."

Hughes sighed. Removing his glasses, he rubbed at the bridge of his nose for a moment before sliding them back on. When he looked back up at Roy the dark haired man had sobered, the two knew each other well and Roy could tell that there was a reason why he had been called to the house of Hughes' run away soldier.

"I hear your guy was already dead when you got here," Roy said, glancing behind Hughes at the one story house that was swarming with military personnel and police alike.

Nodding, Hughes took a quick look over his shoulder. "Yeah, he was lying in a pool of his own blood in the middle of a pretty intricate transmutation circle."

Eyes widening, Roy processed the words and knew immediately what Hughes was getting at. "Human transmutation?"

"I wouldn't really know," he answered grimly. "But Hawkeye said she had seen something like it before, she wouldn't go into detail, but that's not the point."

"Any idea why he was attempting human transmutation?"

"No, but that's not why I had you called down here," Hughes replied looking away and over the crowds gathering on the streets. His face was solemn, his lips pursed slightly and a look in his eyes that told Roy something much bigger than human transmutation was on his best friend's mind. It was hard to imagine what could be worse than that topic.

"Then why am I here," Roy asked seriously.

Hughes sighed again, frowning deeply. "Come on. There's something I want you to see before we go."

"Go where? I thought what you wanted me to see was here."

"It was, but it isn't anymore. It did take you almost two hours to get here, it's not surprising." When he noticed Roy's confused expression, Hughes continued. "There was a survivor."

"A survivor? What do you mean, he wasn't attempting human transmutation alone?"

"I don't know what the other person's purpose was, but they're not in very good shape. I thought you would want to see for yourself."

"Why does it matter to me if there was a survivor or not," Roy asked blandly. "It's not my case."

"Trust me, you'll want to see this," Hughes said. Without further talk, Hughes led Roy around the back of the house and into the kitchen.

Even Roy couldn't quite hide his disgust when he was led down a set of now brightly lit steps and into the basement. The first thing he saw was the wide eyed man that was lying dead in a puddle of his own blood that was beginning to congeal around him. It also didn't take him long to notice that the amount of blood covering the walls and floor wasn't from the just the man. Whoever their survivor was, was lucky to be alive and he knew it.

"It looks like your survivor was being held against their will," Roy observed when he noticed the chains on the wall, the wooden hand restraints on the floor and the vials of a clear liquid on a table next to a syringe.

"Yeah, but we don't know why yet," Hughes spoke up. "Come on, I'll take you to the hospital."

"Why is it that it's so important for me to see this person?"

Hughes ignored the question, instead frowning sadly as he led Roy to a waiting car.

Upon reaching the car, Roy realized that he hadn't seen any of his team at the house. It was while they were driving that he asked, "Where's my team? I didn't see anyone at the house."

"They're all at the hospital already," Hughes answered.

"Why are they at the hospital," Roy asked, confused about what his team would be doing at the hospital.

Hughes never answered Roy's question, he just frowned and left Roy to wonder just what was going on.

When the vehicle pulled up to the hospital, its brakes squeaking quietly as it slowed to a stop, Roy immediately began to exit the car.

"Roy," Hughes called, his voice grave and his eyes on the steering wheel he was still gripping in his hands.

Looking back at his friend, Roy found himself growing uncharacteristically nervous. It wasn't like Hughes to be so melancholy, the man was always bubbly and easy going, even when the situation was serious. It helped to keep him from losing himself in the usually dark nature of his job. "What is it?"

"It's just... the person I'm about to take you to see...they're really beat up, it's bad..."

Finally having enough of being left in the dark about just who he was going to see and why it was so important that his crew was already here with them and that he see this nameless survivor too, Roy couldn't help but snap at his friend. "Why is my team already here? Just who is this survivor, Hughes?"

Letting out a long breath through his nose, Hughes ignored Roy's question and the dark look he was receiving. Opening his door, he stepped out of the car and began to walk to the entrance of the hospital.

"What the hell is going on, Hughes?" Roy snapped again, slamming his own door and jogging over to his friend. When Hughes made no attempt to answer him, Roy grabbed his arm and jerked him to a stop.

"I think it's better if you see for yourself, Roy. Just remember that it's not your fault," Hughes stated, meeting his friend's eyes evenly.

Releasing Hughes in his surprise and confusion, Roy found himself following alongside the man, his hands shoved into the pockets of his black coat. He barely registered his surroundings while they walked, his jaw was clenched and his eyebrows pulled together. When they entered the hospital, Riza was there waiting for them. Roy met her eyes, but the blond woman looked away quickly, a spark of shame and guilt in her eyes that Roy didn't understand.

"It's this way," she stated quietly. Pivoting on her heel, she led the two men through a hall to the right in the direction of the intensive care unit.

A strange tension was beginning to make Roy's stomach turn uncomfortably. He had a bad feeling about all the secrecy that seemed to be revolving around the identity of the survivor and the grimness that was hanging in the air. After turning down another hall, this one to their left, Roy noticed that the rest of his team; Breda, Falman, Fuery and Havoc were all sitting on small benches at the end of the hall. They all looked up at the new arrivals, but like Riza, quickly looked away to avoid Roy's eyes.

His hands fisted unconsciously in his pockets and he felt his gut clench. It wasn't like him to feel so tense or nervous, but he just couldn't help it. Not with the way that everyone was acting.

When Riza stopped, she was facing a set of doors that led further into the hospital. "We're not allowed any further, but the doctors are expecting you. I think they've already finished with the surgery, but they haven't told us much aside from the fact that you want room 2B."

Passing through the doors, Hughes and Roy were greeted by a nurse behind a circular desk. She glanced up at the two men as they approached. "May I help you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Hughes, this is Colonel Mustang were here to see the patient that is in 2B."

"Yes, I was told you would be coming. It's down the hall there," she said, indicating the hall to their right.

The two walked down the hall silently, their polished shoes clicking softly against the sterile white tile. At the door of room 2B, Hughes stopped and faced Roy.

"Are you ready?"

Roy scowled. "What is going, Hughes? I'm getting tired of this secret nonsense. Why do you want me to see this person so badly?"

"Because, Roy, you need to see her, but just remember that I warned you: She's in bad shape," Hughes replied.

"She?" Roy questioned hesitantly.

Hughes nodded, turning around he opened the door and gestured for Roy to go in first. The room was dimly lit and the sounds of various machines humming or beeping was the only thing that could be heard. There was only a single bed in the room and the person in it was covered in cream colored linens and a matching blanket. It was obviously a woman, judging by the curves that were almost painfully noticeable due to the thinness of the body beneath the sheets. The woman was also obviously missing a leg, her right, just above the knee.

Stepping further into the room and closer to the bed, Roy struggled to make out the woman's features, but it was difficult from a distance in the dim light and with a breathing masking covering the bottom portion of her face.

Something glinted from the table beside the bed and Roy curiously glanced over at the object. His eyes widened when he saw that it was a heart shaped silver locket attached to a thin chain. Looking back to the person in the bed, he took a tentative step closer to the unconscious woman, swallowing the lump forming in his throat as his heart began to hammer loudly in his ears.

Once he was standing over the woman, he recognized her immediately. "Kate," he whispered, falling to his knees beside the bed. Clenching his fists together, he rested his head against the edge of the bed. "Why didn't you tell me it was her," he asked when Hughes laid a hand on his shoulder, his voice shaking with the strain it was taking for him to hold back the emotions coursing through him. They ranged from relief to disbelief, to shock, to sadness, to anger and of course guilt and shame.

"Would you have believed me if you hadn't seen it with your own eyes," Hughes asked quietly. "I also wanted you to find out in a more private setting, I didn't think it would have been right to spring this on you in front of anyone else or over the phone."

"All that blood...The restraints...The drugs...They were all used on her?"

"I don't know, but that seems the most likely answer."

"You knew, but you still took me down there to see that," Roy asked, his voice raising with quiet anger.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but you needed to see it to understand. Her brothers were right, she was alive, but she's been living in hell. When she wakes up, she may not be the same Kate that everyone once knew. No one knows the extent of damage done to her mind, but if it's anywhere near as bad as what's been done to her body, she may not even remember who we are."

There was a long silence in which Roy clenched his eyes shut and struggled to get a hold of his emotions. Seeing Kate alive was a shock to his system, especially due to the condition she was in. Hughes hadn't been lying when he had said that she was in bad shape. She was extremely thin, her eyes looked bruised and her skin was so pale that she looked like a ghost. Getting to his feet, Roy collapsed into a chair that was a few feet from the bed. He put his head in one of his hands and closed his eyes, it was hard to see Kate in such a bad state.

The door clicked open and a short, middle aged man wearing round glasses walked into the room. He wore a white coat over a pair of blue medical scrubs and had a clipboard in his hands that he was looking over. He hummed curiously when he noticed the two people in the room and looked up from the papers on the clipboard.

"Ah, you must be the gentlemen that know this young woman. Lieutenant Hughes was it," the man asked kindly, smiling at Roy.

"I'm lieutenant Hughes, that's colonel Roy Mustang," Hughes spoke up, introducing himself and Roy with a small smile of his own.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two. I'm Dr. Trite."

"So how is she," Hughes asked somberly, looking over at Kate's pale face.

The doctor sighed heavily. "Given the circumstances, she's doing well. It seems her captor at least tried to take care of her. She is pretty underweight as you can see, but she still has a good amount of muscle tone. It seems she was at least allowed to move around a little or tried to keep herself in descent shape. She lost a lot of blood, but we were able to give her a transfusion so she should be fine. There was some bruising on her wrists and ankles. A few more bruises could be found on her arms and back, but there is no other damage to her body. Aside from her leg that is, it was a strange wound, the cut was so precise and exact more so than most amputation procedures. We've done what we could for it, she should be able to receive a prosthetic limb and live fairly normally with a great deal of treatment and patience."

"When will she wake up," Roy asked.

The doctor bobbed his head in semi-shrug. "It's hard to say. Probably not today, she's still heavily medicated to help reduce the pain. It's really up to her. It could be days, it could be weeks."

"But she'll be ok?"

"She'll live yes, but after hearing some of the details of what may have happened to your friend, whether or not she will be alright mentally remains to be seen."

* * *

"It's so hot," Ed panted. His shoulders were slumped forward and he was trudging through a sandy desert, his booted feet dragging his tired body along. "I think I'm gonna die."

"Don't be dramatic, brother," Al sighed, walking along behind his older brother. "You're not going to die and we've only been walking for an hour."

"But it's so hot," Ed complained loudly. "And we still have a long way to go before we even reach Lior. Remind me to kill that bastard Mustang when we finally make it back to East City. _If_ we make it back to East City."

"Of course we'll make it back."

"I don't see why we have to walk through the desert just to check up on some lame old priest," Ed grumbled.

"It's part of your job as a State Alchemist to do jobs like this every once in awhile. Colonel Mustang has helped us out a lot, the least we can do is help him out sometimes too," Al replied.

Ed snorted. "That jerk only does things that benefit himself. He's a self centered ass, just like Kay said."

"I don't think Kay ever said that, brother..."

Ed ignored this statement and continued trudging through the desert, wiping sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "He only cares about women and his career. That's it."

Knowing how stubborn his brother could be Al didn't argue, he just walked in silence along with his sulking, grumbling sibling and hoped that they would reach Lior soon so that he could get a break from all of the obscenities Ed was spewing.

"Hey brother," Al asked after a few minutes during which silence returned between them.

"Yeah," Ed answered, sounding far less dramatic and annoyed now that he had simmered down a little after his grumbled rant.

Al hesitated, he wasn't sure if he should be asking what he was about to, but it was something that had been on his mind for awhile and though he knew Ed probably wouldn't want to hear it, he decided to ask anyway. "It's just... Do you think there was more to the relationship between Kay and Colonel Mustang?"

Bristling, his face face pulling into a frown immediately after the mention of the Colonel that delighted in making his life a living hell, Ed growled under his breath and his steps became more like childish stomps. "Hell no! Kay would never get involved with a guy like that...I'd kill him."

"I don't know... Haven't you ever noticed the way that the Colonel and his team treat us? It's not quite the same now as it used to be, but at first it was like it was hard for everyone to look at you and every now then I could see the way they would glance at the Colonel. It was like they were worried about him."

"You're over thinking things, Al," Ed spoke up. "They were only worried about him because he blames himself for letting Kate get kidnapped and then not being able to find her. We're just reminders of his failure since they've all given up on her."

"I miss Kay," Al muttered sadly.

Ed frowned, his fists clenching at his side. "Yeah, me too, but I have this feeling that we'll be seeing her soon." He held up his auto-mail right arm and splayed his fingers that were sheathed in white gloves. With a quiet chuckle, he lowered it back to his side. "She's going to be pretty mad, you know?"

"I know, but... do you think she'll forgive us this time like she always would when we were kids and we made her angry?"

"Who knows. This time she might not be able to forgive us so easily."

* * *

Three days had passed before Kate finally began to stir. She didn't wake up, but she moved around some, her eyes fluttered behind her closed lids while nightmares tormented her and she groaned, cried and occasionally screamed in her deep sleep. Throughout it all Roy never left her side. He stayed perched beside her in an uncomfortable chair watching her and holding her hand or caressing her head and talking to her whenever she seemed to be having a particularly bad dream or whenever his guilt about having practically given up on her was particularly heavy.

Riza had stopped in as had other members of his team to see Kate or to bring their Colonel food or a change of clothes since he refused to leave Kate's side. Hughes had returned to Central two days after Kate had been brought to the hospital to make his report, he was doing his best to make sure that Kate was not disturbed when she woke up. He didn't want anyone questioning her about what she had gone through when he highly doubted that she would want to talk about it, besides, he figured the evidence he had that she had been held against her will and forced to help with the heinous experiments would be enough to satisfy Central. It seemed that so far it had been and Roy was grateful that she was being left alone to rest peacefully.

It was five days after she had been rescued from the basement in a puddle of her own blood that her eyes finally opened. Roy had been sitting by her bedside, his cheek propped up on his fist as he dozed slightly. His eyes were closed and his chin was dripping closer to his chin with every passing minute. It was when he heard a soft groan, followed by sounds of confusion, fear and discomfort that he opened his eyes to see that Kate was writhing in the bed.

Standing, Roy had gone to her side, taking one of her small hands in his own he used his other to smooth her hair from her damp forehead. He watched her with guilty and pained eyes, talking quietly to her in an effort to calm her. Her eyes screwed tightly shut and her hands clasping and clawing at the blankets that covered her. She was trying to move her legs in her fitful sleep, but moving her right seemed to only cause her pain and she cried out when the stump collided with the railing of the bed. At that moment her eyes snapped opened wide and she sucked in a deep, panicked breath before tearing her hand from Roy's trying to move away from him and the hand that was caressing her face.

It wasn't hard to tell that she wasn't seeing him or the hospital room, she was seeing the room that haunted her dreams and the man that had tortured her for over three years. She was like a frightened animal, her eyes were wild as they glanced around her in frenzied, fearful movements. They didn't take in a single thing they landed on, she was in a waking nightmare and her body was reacting on sheer instinct.

"Kate, calm-" Roy cut himself off, he had tried to reach for her, to soother her and assure her she was safe, but she had cried out and scooted away from his hands. Frowning, he resisted the need he felt to reach out to her and take her in his arms. "Kate," he spoke quietly, but with a slight tone of authority. "Look at me, Kate."

She whimpered, shaking her head and attempting to pull herself into a ball, but the movement only caused her to cry out again when her right leg, or what was left of it dragged against the bedding uncomfortably. Her small hands reached down instinctively to cradle her leg, but her hands found nothing where they were reaching but sheets and blankets. Her eyes moved to stare down at the place her missing limb should have been and remembrance flashed across her face as she recalled the events that led to the loss of most of her right leg.

"Kate," Roy said again, noticing the way she was beginning to pale and how her breathing was growing erratic and forced. "Kate," he repeated, this time reaching out to put a hand under her chin and gently turn her face to his. "You're safe now."

Her eyes widened at the words that were spoken and the fuzziness that had clouded her vision melted away slowly. She blinked several times a range of emotions flashing through her eyes. "R-Roy?" She questioned haltingly, disbelievingly. Hot, salty tears filled her eyes and a sob shook her thin body before she collapsed against the welcoming and warm chest of the man that she had loved what seemed like a lifetime ago.

Roy gathered her in his arms letting her small hands clutch tightly to him while her sobs made her entire body tremble violently. It was hard for him to hold her gently when all he wanted to do was crush her to his chest to assure himself that she was solid, that she was real and not just a figment of his imagination, but he refrained. He didn't want to hurt her and though the doctor said that she still had a good deal of muscle mass, her body was so frail looking he was afraid she would turn to dust if he tightened his grip too much.

Smoothing her hair, Roy sighed and closed his before placing a kiss on top of Kate's head. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair, his fingers tightening their hold for a moment. "I couldn't keep my promise to you."

The mention of a promise seemed to jolt something within her and her sobs died, but the tears continued to flow down her cheeks leaving glistening trails in their wake. "Ed, Al..." Was all she managed to rasp out.

Roy couldn't entirely hide his surprise, he knew that she would want to know about her brothers, but he didn't think now was a good time to be telling her exactly what had taken place after she had disappeared. He also didn't quite think it was his place to tell the story. "They're fine."

"I..I want to.. see them."

"I know, but," he trailed off to sigh uncomfortably and look away from her while running a hand through his hair. A hand that Kate noted was gloved, though she didn't think anything of it. "Do you know how long you've been gone?"

She blinked a few times, shaking her head in thought and confusion. "I... I..."

"It's been over three years," Roy told her.

Gasping, her eyes widened and she looked about to panic again. "That's...There's no..."

"I'm assuming you spent a lot of time drugged and were kept unaware of how much time was passing, but it's been over three years. We thought...We thought you were dead."

Her eyes grew watery again and she screwed them shut in an attempt to keep the salty water from leaking from her eyes. She didn't know what to do or say, it was hard to believe so much time had past since she had been abducted.

"Your brothers are fine, Kate. They're in Lior right now, studying," Roy lied. "I haven't been able to reach them to tell them that you've been found."

"But they're alright?"

"Yeah, they're fine," Roy lied again, smiling in reassurance. "I should get the doctor, I'm sure they'd like to know you're awake."

* * *

Thanks go out to.... DarkFlame Alchemist, Kristie94, SecretSnow, -my-forgotten-rose-, XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX, Rukia-chappy, iTorchic, Black Claided Cat, xXKaminari-TsubasaXx, Veryfairygirl14, ningirl97, EvilBozyR2Cute, TheEvilMuffinToaster. Thank you all for reviewing! I hope I didn't leave anyone out, I apologize if I did and sorry that it's been so long since I've actually thanked anyone like this. I've been a bit lazy lately...

Please review! And Merry Christmas!


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 23**

**Reaching Out**

It was on the same day that Kate awoke that Riza had come to tell Roy that Ed had called from Lior. She hadn't told him about Kate, but she had told him to try calling Roy back in two hours and that she would make sure that the Colonel was in his office. At first Roy hadn't wanted to leave Kate's side, partly because he didn't want to leave her alone and partly because he just didn't know what to say to her brothers when they called back, but with Kate finally awake the doctors attending to her were busy performing a series of tests and they wouldn't be finished with her anytime soon.

In the end, he had returned to the office and Riza had stayed at the hospital after repeatedly assuring Roy that she would call him immediately should her condition change. Much to Roy's annoyance, Ed had called an hour after Riza had instructed him to and there was nothing he could do to stop himself from snapping at the young alchemist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Do you really think I have the time to sit around here right now and wait for your phone call?!" He snapped angrily into the receiver the moment the call was connected.

"Yeah, well it's not like I have time to be running errands for a perverted, self-obsessed Colonel!"

"What the hell did you call for anyway? Did you finish in Lior?"

"No," Ed answered stiffly. "We just got here last night and I slept through most of the day. Walking through the desert takes a lot out of you, you know. Especially when you have to stop every hour to pull your tin can of a brother out of the sand!"

"Then what did you call for?" Roy asked gruffly, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

Ed hesitated. "I just.. felt like I should. I don't know why," he admitted reluctantly and stubbornly.

"I see," Roy replied, frowning as he sighed and closed at his eyes to rub at them with the fingers of his free hand. "It saves me the trouble of having to track you down at least."

"Why?" Ed asked abruptly.

Sighing heavily, Roy leaned his head back into his chair. "It's Kate."

Ed gasped audibly, pausing for a moment before slowly repeating his sister's name. "Kate?"

In the background Roy could hear the squeak of the armor that was Al's body and the young boy's voice when he inquired anxiously, "Brother? What about Kate?"

"She's been found," Roy stated monotonously.

There was a long silence during which all that Roy could hear was Ed's breathing on the other line and the movement of the armor encasing Al while the boy shifted in what Roy figured was uncertainty and worry at the look that was probably on Ed's face.

"F-Found," Ed stuttered when he was finally able to speak again.

Al gasped in the background. "Kate's been found? Is she alive? Is she alright? Where-"

"Be quiet, Al," Ed snapped quietly, not trying to be harsh, but his mind was reeling from the unexpected, but welcome news.

"She's alive," Roy informed Ed who let out a long breath of relief.

"Brother," Al questioned pleadingly.

"She's alive, Al," Ed said reassuringly, though he still sounded strained. "Is she alright?"

Roy sighed again, he didn't know what he should tell them or how to even tell them anything in the first place. "She's alive," he repeated.

"We'll head back-"

"No," Roy cut in. "Don't. She's been through a lot, Ed. She was found five days ago and has been in the hospital in a comatose state until today. I don't know that seeing you two in your state is really a good idea at this point..."

"What aren't you telling me," Ed questioned seriously. "What happened to our sister? What happened to Kay?"

Roy sighed, leaned back into his chair and pulled a palm over his face, briefly rubbing his temples. "She wasn't missing by choice, Ed. That much should be obvious. It's still fairly unknown what the reason behind her being held prisoner for so long was, but I'm sure you remember me telling you that the person who likely had taken her was interested in-"

"Human transmutation," Ed cut in grimly.

"Yeah. From what the team investigating the incident found out, the guy was trying to bring back his dead wife and was planning on using Kate somehow. It seems he thought she was the key he needed to successfully transmute her."

"Why did he have her for so long?"

"You know how stubborn your sister is," Roy replied. "The notes found at the scene suggest that she was uncooperative and refused to divulge whatever knowledge she may have had on the subject, but the guy never gave up. He was determined to use Kate to bring back his wife, apparently she reminded him of her in looks and attitude."

"There's more isn't there," Ed asked.

Roy paused for a moment, thinking over how he should phrase his next statement. Deciding that the two boys he was talking to had been through more than their fair share of hardships and didn't need to be coddled, he bluntly informed them of Kate's situation. "The day that she was found, Hughes, was trying to apprehend the man holding her prisoner. He was wanted for abandoning his post as a State Alchemist and taking off with a great deal of money. The same day, completely unaware that he was about to be found and taken into custody, he attempted to revive his wife."

"Y-you mean he..."

"He attempted human transmutation and he fully intended to use Kate as material somehow," Roy said.

"How bad?"

"Her right leg from just above the knee. She's also pretty underweight, but she seems to have some how managed to stay fairly healthy, according to the doctor she has a decent amount of muscle mass despite how thin she is. I haven't had much time with her so I don't know what her mental state is, but judging by the nightmares she's been having, she isn't completely stable. Not that it wasn't to be expected, but there is no telling how she would react if she were to find out what the two of you have done. She wants to see you both, badly, but for now I think it's best to give her some time before seeing her."

"You're probably right, but can't we at least talk to her? She's our sister, it wouldn't be right to ignore the fact that she's been found alive after three years," Ed pointed out.

"I really don't think that's a good idea. She'll want to know why you won't come and see her. You know Kate, she's not an idiot, she would figure out something is up if the two of you avoided her."

"So what happens now?"

"Hell if I know," Roy sighed tiredly. "The doctor said she should be able to live a pretty normal life after receiving a prosthetic limb and seeing as how you just so happen to know a pretty good surgeon and prosthetic maker I would assume that Kate will end up back in Resembool before long."

"That will be interesting seeing as how I burnt our old house down. We'll have to come up with a good excuse for that."

"Yeah, one that doesn't involve you being a State Alchemist. I'm not looking forward to her reaction to that piece of information."

Ed chuckled lightly in response. "Kate does have a pretty good temper on her, doesn't she? Al and I were talking about that just the other day."

"It must run in the family," Roy muttered.

"What did you say?!" Ed snapped angrily.

"Nothing, just finish your assignment and move on to the next one, but just so we're on the same page I haven't told Kate anything about you two and what has happened since she's been gone. It might be best to simply tell her that the two of you are traveling to learn more about alchemy since she knows how much you two are interested in it. Say that you're finding different people to help you and that it's hard tracking you down since you move around so much," Roy suggested.

"Alright," Ed sighed. "Maybe we can manage to restore our bodies soon, that way Kate will never have to know what we did."

"That's just wishful thinking and you know it. The moment she touches you, it's all over," Roy pointed out.

"Same goes for you you perverted Colonel!"

"I know."

"You had better keep your grubby mits off my sister, got it?"

"Shut up and get back to work before I have you court-martialed for insubordination."

"Psh. Yeah right, have fun explaining that one to Kate," Ed retorted, slamming the phone down before Roy had the chance to yell at him some more.

* * *

"Big brother," Al questioned in a voice very close to a whine. "It's not that I can't understand the concern about how Kay would react to seeing us and finding out what we did, but...It seems wrong to lie to her about."

"I know, Al. We'll tell her the truth, but not until we're ready and she's had some time to recover."

"I want to see her."

Ed sighed forlornly. "Me too, Al. Me too."

* * *

"Well," the stocky doctor that was in charge of Kate's health began. "She needs to rest and eat to gain back the weight she has lost, but other than that she seems to be in fine condition. Physically and mentally. Then again I didn't know her before her ordeal, so I may not be the best judge, but she is sound."

"How long will she need to stay here," Roy asked.

"She mentioned a surgeon in Resembool, Pinako Rockbell, whom I'm familiar with. I have no problem transferring her into Ms Rockbell's care, but I would like to wait two or three more days. Just to make sure that Ms Elric is in good enough condition to be moved."

"That seems a little soon," Roy said. He wasn't keen on the idea that Kate would be going to Resembool so soon after waking. Mainly because he wouldn't be able to stay with her there, he had to remain in East City.

"Perhaps, but the train ride is an easy one and Kate is in pretty good health considering what she's been through. I don't think moving her presents any risk to her health. Besides, a familiar environment where she has family and friends to support her while she recovers her strength is probably better for her than being stuck in a hospital. The food is only so good here after all," the doctor chuckled at his little joke, Roy just lifted a brow unamused.

"I'll arrange to have her taken to Resembool in three days. I'll inform Ms Rockbell that she should be expecting a new patient," Roy said.

The doctor nodded. "That will be fine. Until then we'll just watch her and see how she progresses. She's sleeping right now, but you're more than welcome to go in and see her."

"Thank you." After finishing his talk with the doctor, Roy let himself into the darkened room that Kate was sleeping in. He could make out her face that was illuminated by the soft glow of some of the machines that were humming, beeping and buzzing around her. She looked so lost, even in her sleep that he wished there was someway he could help her find whatever it was she was looking for.

Sighing heavily, he brushed some hair from her forehead before leaning down. He had wanted to tenderly place his lips on her temple, but he stopped when he was inches away. Closing his eyes wearily, he removed his gloved hand from her head and lowered himself into the chair by the bed. He wanted so badly to touch her, to kiss her and comfort her in his arms, but he knew that there was a chance she would see into his memories of the last three years. That was something he didn't want to risk exposing her to so soon after she had returned from the hell she had been thrust into because he hadn't kept his promise.

"Roy," she asked, her voice weighed down with sleep.

"I'm here," he answered softly, leaning forward to take her hand in his and smiling when she weakly squeezed it and let her eyes flutter open.

Slowly moving her head on her pillow so that she could meet the dark eyes that were staring at her, her lips tiredly pulled upwards into a weak smile. Lifting the hand that wasn't in his grasp, she tried to reach towards his face only to have him jolt away from her. Recoiling her hand a look of hurt and incomprehension washed over her features. Laying her hand over her stomach and pulling her eyes away from Roy's that seemed apologetic and ashamed, Kate tried to find something to say.

"When can I see my brothers?"

"I'm afraid it might be awhile," he replied.

"Why?"

Roy hesitated, torn between lying and telling her the truth that she really did deserve to know, but not knowing if she would handle it well in her state. "They have been traveling around Amestris for the past two years to learn as much about alchemy and its different forms and uses as they can. It's hard to keep track of them they move so much, but they call every few months to say that they're alive. I just heard from them a few weeks ago, they're fine and were in a town north of here in the middle of nowhere. They weren't sure where they were going next, but they said they would call in a few months to check in again."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," she sighed sadly, burrowing her head into her pillow and refusing to look at Roy. "At least somethings haven't changed." Her tone was almost accusatory and Roy winced slightly from the sting of her words.

"Kate, I-"

"Don't worry about it, Roy. As long as you're happy, I-"

"It's not like that, Kate. I just...You've been gone for such a long time I don't know what to do, I've done things that I don't want you to see. I don't want to hurt you."

She laughed a quiet laugh, it was bitter, sad and lonely. "So that's why you won't let me touch you? You're afraid of what I might see when I do?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered truthfully, gripping her hand a little tighter.

She slid her hand out from under his and laid it over her stomach, still refusing to meet his eyes. "I appreciate your honesty, but I'd like you to understand that time for me is a blur. I knew I had been gone a long time, but I didn't know how long. Things tended to blend together since I spent so much time drugged so that I would be a bit more manageable. But during that time it was thoughts of my brothers, my mom, dad, you that kept me from going insane. It was naïve and stupid, especially when I was told I had been missing for over a year and knew you would think I was dead by then, but I had to believe that you were still looking for me, that you still loved me and were waiting for me to come back to you. I tried not think about you being with anyone else, but at the same time I knew that was so naïve. I couldn't expect you to stay faithful to someone you thought was dead when you had a full life ahead of you, but I never expected to see you again, I really thought I was going to die in that hell hole. I tried to stay positive despite the situation I was in and that meant holding on to my memories of our time together and thinking of what the future would have been."

His hand fisted on the bed and he lowered his head, his black hair hiding his face. With his jaw tightly clenched and his eyes closed, he tried to think of something to say to her that would make her understand. He did still love her, he wanted to feel her skin against his again, to be reminded of her warmth and gentleness, but it wasn't that simple. There was so much that he felt he needed to keep hidden from her and though her brothers were on top of that list there were definitely other things that he didn't want her to see. Things that he felt ashamed of doing now that he felt so guilty for failing to believe in the woman in the bed who had never stopped believing in him.

"Kate, I'm so sorry. I-"

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Roy. You moved on and that's ok, I understand, I'm not happy about it exactly, it does hurt, but I just want you to be happy."

"It's not like that," he cut in, opening his eyes and staring at her. "Look at me, Kate, please," he asked with a pleading undertone to his voice. When Kate turned to him, slowly, bringing her golden eyes up to meet his, he took the hand she had removed from his grasp and pulled it towards him, holding it near his heart. "I never stopped loving you and I never loved anyone else, but I gave up on you... There was no evidence, no clue about whether you were alive or dead and it was no surprise when the team was ordered to close the case after a year and no results whatsoever. I felt so guilty for not keeping my promise to protect you that I ignored orders, I risked losing my job, my title and my chance at making this country great again. Hughes came to see me after a call from Riza who had tried many times to remind me I had work to do, but I never listened. When Hughes came, he said a lot that I didn't want to hear, but he was right." He offered a small smile and was going to kiss the hand he was holding to his chest, but stopped himself and settled for giving it a squeeze instead.

"What did he say?"

"A lot," he chuckled. "I felt so guilty, Hughes knew that and he pointed out that by searching for you not only was I abandoning the goals I had set for myself and that you were risking so much to help me to achieve. He reminded me that just because I couldn't protect you didn't mean I couldn't protect my team or the citizens of this country, it just meant I had to work harder to prove that I could do what I had promised so that you would never have a reason to be angry with me."

"You say you never moved on, but it sounds to me like you did and I'm glad. I would have been very unhappy to hear you had lived regretting what happened and never letting me go because you felt that you couldn't. I would never want to burden you."

"You were never a burden. I moved on in a different sense then you were implying. I just tried to live a life that you would be proud of me for. I didn't do too well when it came to my... personal life..." He looked away from her here, but when she squeezed his hand and smiled he found himself lost in her eyes. "I've missed you so much.."

Tears formed in her eyes, spilling over and trailing down her cheeks. "I've missed you too. More than you will ever know. I love you, Roy."

"I don't deserve-"

"I can't say I don't care about what you've done or that it wouldn't hurt me to see into your memories and see you with another woman. It would hurt me, but I know that was never your intention. If you don't want me to touch you then I won't. We aren't together anymore and if there is someone else I would like to know now. I need to know..."

"There's no one else. Love has been something I couldn't find, my relationships have been much less.. respectable. And It's not that I don't want to touch you, trust me," he told her honestly. "I'm just not ready for you to..to see some of the things I've done. I love you, Kay, and don't want to hurt you."

"Is that true?" Kay asked.

"Of course, why would I lie about not wanting to hurt you?"

"No, I was referring to the part before that. Do you really still love me?"

The look in her eyes was so hopeful, excited, but there was also a hint of a broken and fragile girl that he badly wanted to fix. "I do. I love you, Kate, and I promise not to pull away from your touch for long, I'm just not ready to let you see what I've done. I want to come to terms with everything and I still need to process the fact that you're really here. It hasn't really settled in yet."

Kate nodded, her eyes swimming with tears. "I know what you mean."

* * *

~A/N~

Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of What Was Lost.

Special thank you to- TheEvilMuffinToaster, Veryfairygirl14, Rukia-chappy, sailormajinmoon, Black Claided Cat, Harteramo, -my-forgotten-rose-, hellgirlfan-1, XxXLIFEafterDEATHXxX, Wolfy Pup, XxSpIcYpEpPeRxX, CRdragonPyro for reviewing the last chapter.

Please review! And take a peek at the poll that's up on my profile please!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 24**

**Hidden Thoughts**

Kate adjusted the blanket that was placed over her legs to obscure the fact that one wasn't quite whole and to keep people from staring since she was drawing enough attention by being wheeled around in a squeaky wheelchair by a military officer. Her final three days in the hospital had passed quickly, she had been moved from the intensive care unit to a regular room where she was allowed more visitors than just Roy. The entire team that she hadn't seen in years had been coming in to see her, bringing her all kind of things ranging from flowers to food.

It had been nice to see everyone again though she had the distinct sense that something was being kept from her. No one would touch her or let her touch them and they fidgeted much too often. She tried blowing it off as it just being awkward from them all to be reunited after such a long time, but it only alleviated some of her paranoia.

"Pinako's expecting me, right?" Kate asked, tilting her head back to look up at Roy.

"Yeah, she said would make sure there was a nice homemade dinner waiting for you and a warm bed ready."

"It'll be nice to go home," Kate said wistfully, her face falling and her eyes staring blankly at her hands in her lap.

"Will you be alright," Roy asked quietly. He was worried about Kate, for as strong as she was and as well as she appeared to be handling everything that had happened she had a habit of slipping off into a world all her own.

A world that made her look so lonely and lost that it hurt to look at her. He knew it would take time for her to heal, to move on and get passed what had happened to her, but it didn't make it any easier to see her so sad and alone.

"I'll be fine. Maybe Ed and Al will come home, I miss them."

Roy grimaced inwardly at the depressed tone of her voice. He wanted to tell her that it was possible, but he knew it wasn't. As much as she wanted to see her brothers chances were it would be several months before that happened. He settled for remaining quiet and pushing her to the waiting train where they had a private room set aside for them.

Once they were on the train and Kate was comfortably sitting across from Roy, staring out the window at the people outside hurrying to get on the locomotive, Roy pulled a small object from his coat. Kate glanced over to see that the object was a small box, the kind that usually held jewelry.

"What's that," she asked curiously.

Looking up, Roy smiled. "I was going to give this to you that night that we went to the theater, but it wasn't done yet. I was hoping to surprise when you got back from Resembool by taking you out again, but...I've held on to it all these years, I just couldn't bring myself to get rid of it." Opening the box, Roy turned it towards Kate so she could see the small silver band and it's single round diamond that lay inside.

"Isn't that.." Kate trailed off, her eyes growing watery and her voice beginning to crack.

"An engagement ring? Yes, it is. I don't suppose you'd still want to marry me, would you?"

For several minutes Kate couldn't reply, she was too caught off guard and couldn't find her voice as tears trailed down her pale cheeks from her golden eyes. Her hands fisted in her lap and her hair hid her face from view while she tried to figure out how to reply. When she found her voice again and was able to take a deep breath, she looked up and smiled.

"I'd love to marry you."

She held her left hand out and let Roy slide the ring onto her finger, she didn't mind the fact that he was still wearing his gloves and was still leery of touching her. She understood that he had things he wanted to keep to himself and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she saw these things. Not only was she not ready to see the things he had done, neither was he so they had made an agreement to take things slow for the time being.

Studying the ring on her finger, Kate smiled and rested her head against the wall. When the train jolted to a start, she looked up and let her eyes take in every single detail of the passing landscape that she hadn't seen in so long it was almost like seeing it for the first time again.

While Kate was busying staring out the window, Roy was busy watching her. There was more of a light in her eyes now then there had been since she had awoken and it was nice to see her looking so much more alive. He smiled, knowing that in time things would be okay and that Kate would eventually return to her stubborn, temperamental self.

* * *

"Well aren't you a mess," Pinako stated blandly when Kate was wheeled out of the train by Roy.

"Thanks, Grandma Pinako," Kate grumbled. "It's not like I've been through a life changing experience or anything you old hag."

"Did you say something, dear," the older woman asked, momentarily removing her ever present pipe from her lips.

Kate smiled a cross between innocence and wickedness. "Nope, not a word."

"Good, now lets get you home. Winry's making dinner. Don't worry, she's gotten better over the years," Pinako said when she noticed Kate grimace in response to the idea of Winry cooking.

"That's a relief," Kate mumbled under her breath.

Getting to the Pinako home proved to be a bit difficult, with the only transportation being a horse pulled cart, Kate had a hard time getting and out of the cart, even with Roy's help. They had managed of course, but it was what happened once she hopped off the cart and into Roy's arms to be settled into her wheelchair that things got interesting.

"Where's our house? Why is it gone?" Kate asked slowly, her gold eyes locked on the hilltop where the house she had grown up in with her brothers and where happy memories of her mother and father resided once stood.

Roy was about to open his mouth to speak, but Pinako beat him to it.

"It burnt down. Happened about two years. The boys were careless," the woman said.

"Oh."

"Lets get you inside, it's getting cold out here." Turning her back to Roy and Kate, Pinako sighed and frowned while mentally asking Kate to forgive her for lying.

She knew it was only a matter of time before Kate learned the truth and knowing the temper that the young woman possessed, she just hoped that when she did learn the truth she was in better condition. Because if not, then there was no doubt that Kate would risk severe damage to herself in order to find her brothers and confront them.

"I suppose we should begin the operation sooner rather than later," Pinako mumbled to herself.

"I want automail, Pinako. I don't want a flimsy prosthetic leg, I want automail," Kate spoke up, having heard the woman's mention of an operation.

Pinako snorted. "I already figured you would, I'm not an idiot, you know. Everything has already been prepared for the operation, I just need to take some measurements for the limb. After that we can operate whenever you want."

"The sooner the better," Kate replied. "I'd like to get be able to move around freely again. I want to walk around outside and be able to feel the sun on my face and the wind on my hair again. Besides, I know the recovery can take quite awhile and I don't want to keep my fiancé waiting years for me to be able to walk down the aisle."

"Fiancé?" Pinako asked, eyebrow raising curiously.

"Fiancé," another voice chirped, this one girlish and excited. "Who's engaged?" Footsteps followed the question and a moment after the question had been asked a teenage girl in a black skirt and a white top popped out of the question, her blond ponytail bobbing behind her. "Kate?"

"Hi, Winry," Kate greeted with a small smile.

A bright smile lit the girl's face and she waved almost shyly, but energetically. "So you're engaged, huh?"

Kate nodded. "Yup, as of just a few hours ago I, Kate Elric, am engaged to the one and only Roy Mustang. I have yet to decide if this is a good thing or not seeing as how he has an ego big enough for an army."

"Hey," Roy protested.

"Just kidding," Kate grinned innocently.

"Not from what I've heard," Winry muttered.

Roy opened his mouth to retort, but the chiming of the clock cut him off and he sighed. "I need to get back to the train station or I'll miss my train home. Will you be alright?" He asked, leaning down in front of Kate and taking her hands in his.

She smiled wanly. "Yeah, I'll be fine. What about you, will you be alright?"

"It's not me I'm worried about-"

"That's my point, Roy," she cut in, lifting a pale, thin hand to rest on his cheek. "Stop worrying so much about me and the past that I have yet to learn about. I know it's not easy, but you have other things that you should be worrying about more than me."

"Kate-"

"Roy, part of the reason I fell in love with you was because you're strong and you never give up. So don't give up on your dreams because you're too busy worrying about me."

"I'm going to worry about you whether you tell me to or not, you know?"

"Then you're an idiot," Kate retorted stubbornly.

Eyebrow raising and lip twitching in amusement, Roy couldn't help but to smile at Kate. Despite everything she had been through her personality hadn't changed all that much and she was still as feisty and stubborn as usual. "I love you too." Was all he replied with, grinning at her when she glared at him for a moment before scowling and turning away with a humph.

"Idiot," she muttered under her breath.

Chuckling he scratched at his head. He didn't want to say it out loud for fear that he would spoil one of the better moods he'd seen Kate in, but it was impossible for him to not see the resemblance between Kate and Ed in that moment.

Sensing the sudden change in Roy's attitude even though he was still smiling at her, Kate furrowed her brow and studied him. When she couldn't figure out what it was that had caused him to become rather depressed, she sighed and looked away.

"Well, I should probably go finish making dinner. Bye," Winry chirped, flouncing back into the kitchen.

"And I should head back to the train station, my train should be in soon," Roy said.

Nodding, Kate tried to offer up a believable smile to Roy in hopes of easing the uncertainty and unease that she was well aware he was feeling. She could understand his hesitation about leaving her so soon after she had finally been returned to him and the world, but she didn't want him to worry. They had the rest of their lives ahead of them and as soon as Kate was able to move around freely once again, she would make her way back to his side with every intention of staying there forever.

Running his gloved hands through Kate's long hair, Roy smiled. "I love you, Kay."

Sighing, Kate smiled back. "Love you too, Roy."

"I'll call as often as I can to check in on you," he said, letting the backs of his fingers glide over her pale cheek.

The look on his face could have only been described as one of longing and when he pulled his hand away, he curled his fingers into a fist, he wanted nothing more than to touch her. To really touch her, to feel her skin beneath his fingertips, to feel the softness of her gentle lips against his. Most of all he wanted to feel the warmth of her body against his own again. It was a feeling he had never been able to replace and he wanted it back. That feeling of love, happiness, contentment. He wanted it back and he knew she did too when she made to reach for his face, her breathing having grown just slightly shorter. She paused when her fingers were only inches from his skin, blinked several times and dropped her hand into her lap. Her eyes followed her hand and stared blankly at her lap.

"Kate," Roy began, putting a hand under her chin and tilting her face up to his. She looked so lonely that it nearly broke his heart, but he couldn't risk hurting her further by letting her see what had become of her brothers. She wouldn't take the news well and once she met them, he hated to think of what would happen when she were to see what had happened from their eyes.

"It's alright, Roy," she replied quietly, giving him a small, but sad smile. "I'm not ready yet either. I love you."

"I love you too."

Shifting in her chair, Kate tried to brush of the few moments and the effect they had had on her. When she looked back up at Roy, she seemed less lonely, but still sad. "Don't you have to get back to work," she asked smugly. "Won't Riza kill you if you miss your train?"

Straightening up, Roy smirked arrogantly. "Of course not, she would-"

"Maim you instead," Kate cut in.

"No, she-"

"Would stick hot pokers under you fingernails?"

"Well, no, but," Roy trailed off in defeat. "Fine, fine, I'm going now."

"Still scared of her, huh? I take it that means you still don't do any of your work? If I were working for you that wouldn't be a problem, now would it," Kate stated stiffly.

"No, because you're even scarier than Hawkeye," Roy grumbled. "Gotta go," he chirped when Kate turned to glare at him. "Love you, Kate."

"Love you too, slacker," she replied.

Watching as Roy left, Kate tried to keep herself pulled together, but it wasn't as easy as she had hoped. Despite what she said, she didn't want Roy to leave. She wanted him to stay with her regardless of how selfish it would have been of her. He made her feel safe, relaxed and the moment he had left, closing the door behind him an inexplicable feeling that she would never see him again washed over her. Gazing down at her hands, she fought back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She knew she her feelings were untrue, that she would see Roy again, she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head.

"So," Pinako spoke up, knocking her pipe against the rim of a round ceramic bowl and jolting Kate out of her depressing thoughts. "About this procedure..."

* * *

"Brother, do you think Kate will be alright," Al inquired with evident concern.

Ed sighed heavily, replacing the pay phone he had used back into its holder. Stepping out of the glass encased booth, the blond stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground. "Kay's strong, Al."

"Y-yeah, but...." Trailing off, Al turned his large metal head so that he could stare up at the early evening sky. The sky had turned a pale purple color and stars were just beginning to twinkle to life while the almost full moon shone brightly in the darkening blanket above. "You're strong too, brother, but even for you..."

"The pain was excruciating," Ed finished, flinching at the memory of the many surgeries he had had to undergo in order to get automail.

"She's all alone," Al mumbled sadly.

Continuing to stare at the ground, Ed frowned, his hands balling into tight fists in pockets. Al was right, Kate was all alone. They should have been there with her, supporting her and helping her through the pain, but instead they were hiding from her like cowards. Too scared to face her, they chose to let their own sister suffer the agony that automail surgeries caused all by herself. "We really are cowards."

Humming, Al looked down at his older brother. "Ed..." He watched the older boy shake as drops of water slid from his face and splashed onto the concrete below.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she never forgave us," Ed said shakily. "I can't even forgive myself, how can I expect her to forgive us!?"

"Do you really think she won't forgive us," Al asked dejectedly. He wanted to cry along with his brother, but he couldn't, he could only feel sadness as an emotion, he couldn't express it the way his brother still could.

Ed swallowed and wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. "I don't know."

"I think she'll forgive us," Al spoke up, his voice a bit lighter.

"What makes you say that?"

"She's always had faith in us, we should have faith in her. Kate isn't the type of person to never forgive someone. She'll probably be really mad at us, but I think that's to be expected after what we did."

Laughing stiffly, Ed nodded. "Yeah, she'll be really mad."

"She'll forgive us," Al repeated hopefully, happily.

* * *

There was a reason why the Rockbell home was situated the way it was. A little outside of the town on it's own private hill. While it was easy to get to from town, it was also easy to avoid.

This way the screams of pain wouldn't be heard by the people in the small, quiet village.

Night had fallen on Resembool, most of the lights in the village were now extinguished and the people in their beds. Unlike the darkened, peaceful homes below, the Rockbell home had many lights blazing throughout the house while occasional screams and agonized cries tore through the otherwise silent night.

Kate's hands gripped the bed sheets so tightly that her knuckles were a frightening shade of white and it felt as if her fingers would break. Her teeth were clenched together and her eyes squeezed shut. The tears leaking from the golden orbs was mixing with the sweat that was rolling down her forehead and feverish cheeks. Chestnut locks of hair hung in damp clumps over her shoulders having come loose of the ties that had held it out of her face and in two separate braids.

"Why is it that you can't just knock me out," Kate hissed through her teeth.

"The nerves, we need to know that they're still intact," Pinako answered monotonously, not once taking her eyes from her work on Kate's leg.

"They're obviously still intact you damn old hag! It hurts like hell!"

The short old woman ignored the outburst and wiggled her nose to reposition the glasses that sat on it. Kate growled at the woman who was blatantly ignoring her now and pushed her head further back into the pillow behind her head.

The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt and was hundreds of times worse than anything she could even imagine. It was like her leg was on fire and every time that Pinako connected a nerve to its appropriate piece of machinery it felt as if a hot poker was being thrust up her leg and on top of that it felt as if she were being electrocuted. The spasms that were sent up her spine causing her to tense so much that she thought her back would snap in half were becoming more and more frequent now that the prep work on her leg had been completed. She didn't know how it was possible for just the prep to hurt so badly, but she knew that the pain that was to come now that the mechanical parts where being attached was going to be much worse. Luckily for her all of her nerves had been fine and when she passed out from exhaustion and pain an hour into the process, Pinako saw no reason to wake her up.

It put an end to the ear splitting screams and gut wrenching sobs of pain. Even though she was in the worst pain of her life not once did Kate ask Pinako to stop, not once did she beg or plead for the woman to just make the pain go away. She endured it all to the best of her ability because she didn't what other choice she had.

She wanted to live a life as normal as possible, she wanted to be useful, to be needed and wanted. And most of all she wanted to be able to protect and help Roy while he struggled to accomplish his goals. There was also the fact that she had said she would protect those who couldn't protect themselves since Roy wasn't always able to. That included her brothers. They could protect themselves, she knew that, but they were still her little brothers and she would do everything in her power to keep them safe from harm of any kind.

When Pinako finally stepped away from the operating table that Kate's pale, sweat drenched body lay on the sun was high in the morning sky and the townspeople had long ago begun their day's work. Pulling the mask down from her face after removing her bloodied gloves, the woman sighed tiredly and wiped the back of a hand over her brow.

Winry who had been assisting throughout the long night plopped down into a chair and pulled her hair from its hair tie and tossed her gloves and mask into a waste bin. "It's finally done."

"Seventeen hours of surgery and she was awake through more than half of it. She must be exhausted," Pinako said, nodding at Kate.

"I'm just glad that we're done, it was hard to watch her suffer like that. She's been through so much already and she doesn't even know about Ed and Al yet, " Winry spoke up regretfully.

Pinako shrugged. "For now, it's best that it stay that way. She needs to let herself heal and she won't do that if she knows the truth. Stubborn streaks run in the Elric family. Anyway, you should get some rest we'll need to finish up the work on her new leg so that it can be attached when she wakes up."

"How long do you think she'll be asleep?"

"Probably two to three days."

Standing up, Winry made her way to the door with every intention of going to her room to sleep. She thought that her grandmother would do the same, but instead the woman made no move to follow and stared at Kate for a few moments.

"Aren't you going to get some sleep too," Winry asked.

Looking over her shoulder, Pinako shook her head. "Not yet, I promised that I'd call that Colonel when Kate was through with her surgery....The boys should be calling in about an hour or so too."

* * *

"You damn old hag!" Kate cried loudly, twitching when her automail leg was once again reconnected to the base on her leg. She was breathing harshly, cheeks tinted pink while small beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. "I swear you're enjoying this! What did I ever do to you?"

"Stop your whining," Pinako replied. "I told you that there would need to be several adjustments and some fine tuning done to the leg and nerves in the first few weeks."

"Well you don't have to smile through it," Kate protested, sighing and falling back on the bed she was in tiredly.

Ignoring Kate, Pinako examined the automail leg that had been made for Kate and the joint that it was connected to to be sure that everything was still fitting perfectly and was in good working order. When she was satisfied that everything was as it should be, she nodded to herself and stood up. "You're done for today. I suggest relaxing for a little while and then doing some of the exercises that Winry showed you."

"Yeah, whatever," Kate grumbled.

She put her arm over her eyes and could feel the dampness of her forehead, with a sigh she removed her arm from her face after the door clicked shut, signaling that Pinako had left her alone, and sat up. Looking down at the metal limb that was now attached to her leg in place of the real thing, Kate attempted to wiggle her toes. The slight movement caused pain to shoot up her leg and into her back making her grind her teeth together and shudder.

Flopping back down onto her pillow, she settled for staring at the plain white of the ceiling above her. It had been two weeks since she had undergone surgery and only a day longer than that since she had been brought back to Resembool. Being that she was still healing from the recent surgery she wasn't able to move much and was confined to her bed until she could at least get the hang of basic things such as wiggling her new mechanical toes. The pain would fade in time and she would get used to the odd sensation of having something attached to her that wasn't originally a part of her body.

She was slowly getting used to the metal limb, the feel of it, the weight of it. The pain was fading little by little from the surgery and there didn't seem to be any need to worry over her body possibly rejecting the leg. It didn't happen often, but there was always a chance that a person's body wouldn't accept the presence of a foreign object taking the place of what was originally there. Thankfully Kate wasn't showing any signs of rejecting the automail.

"Hey, Kate," Winry greeted cheerfully, opening the door with one hand while holding a tray of food with the other. "How are you feeling today?"

Kate couldn't fight the scowl that adorned her features. "I'd be better if that grandma of yours wasn't so fond of inflicting pain."

Chuckling, Winry set the tray that contained a simple breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and juice down on the table beside Kate's bed. "More adjustments, huh? Mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead," Kate shrugged, sitting up so that she could eat.

Watching Winry examine the prosthetic leg, Kate noticed that the young girl was very careful to not touch anything but the metal of the leg. Thinking she was being too paranoid, Kate blew off the thought and began to eat her breakfast.

It wouldn't take her much longer to realize that she hadn't been paranoid at all. After two months in the Rockbell, neither Pinako nor Winry had actually touched her. Really touched her, as in skin to skin contact. They were always touching her metal leg, but if they had to touch anything more they would wear gloves or be sure to only touch her clothing, but not her skin.

She refrained from questioning them about this and instead choose to wait as patiently as she could for one of them to slip up or explain themselves without her having to point out that they were being much too cautious. They knew her secret and they had always been leery of touching, not because they had feared what she would see, but because they knew she didn't like to see into people's pasts. For awhile she was able to convince herself that the reason why they were avoiding touching her was for the same old reason and that she was only noticing after two months because it had been such a long time since she had been around anyone outside of her kidnapper who had had no qualms about touching her.

However, with everyday that past she became increasingly aware that there was more behind them not touching her than them trying to respect her wishes to not see into anyones past. It seemed like they were hiding something, it was more noticeable in Winry because the girl would get nervous and jittery any time Kate almost touched her. Pinako never seemed to show much emotion either way, but Kate was no fool and had known them both long enough to know that something was going on.

Once she was certain that there was something being hidden from her, Kate began to wonder what and just why it was being kept a secret. She also began to wonder if Roy's reasons for not wanting to touch her had less to do with her being hurt by what he had supposedly done during her absence and more to do with what was being kept from her. The more she watched and the more she listened the more convinced she was that whatever was being kept from her had something to do with her brothers.

After five months of pretending that everything was fine and that she hadn't noticed the way Pinako and Winry avoided touching or the way they would always exchange uneasy glances whenever she brought up Ed and Al, Kate had had enough. Even her brothers acted oddly when she spoke to them on the phone and no matter how hard they tried to sound fine and happy, they were her brothers and she could feel in her heart that they were lying and she wanted to know why. Why they would lie to her and why everyone seemed to not care that they had yet to see each other.

"Winry, could you come here for a sec, I need some help with this stupid leg," Kate called from her bedroom.

"Be right there, Kate."

Footsteps could be heard from down the hall and Kate clenched her fingers together for a moment before relaxing. Taking a deep breath when Winry walked into the room, Kate turned to her and trying appear as unaffected as possible, smiled.

"Sorry to bug you, but I'm having a hard time getting balanced today," Kate said sheepishly.

"No problem, lets get you up and take a look to make sure everything is-" Winry cut herself off as she helped Kate up from her bed and the older girl stumbled slightly and she reached out for something to steady herself and grabbed a hold of Winry's bare hand with her own.

* * *

~A/N~

Sorry about the wait! I got a little caught up with work and my laptop isn't working all that well...Could have something to do with the stupid viruses it picked up and are a pain in the butt to fix. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

And just so everyone knows I now have a LiveJournal account, the link is on my profile. The username there is the same as my penname, rukia23. I'll be updating that about once a week with information on my stories, ideas, etc. Check it out!

Please review!!!!!!


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 25**

**Long Awaited Meetings**

It wasn't much, but it was enough to make Kate extremely agitated. Trying to remain completely calm and act as if nothing had happened when she had touched Winry proved to be much more difficult than she would have thought. Dinner was hard to get through especially since Roy somehow became the main topic of the conversation and it was him that she was most upset with.

"State Alchemists," she mumbled to herself in the darkness of her own room after everyone had retired for the night and the house was dark and quiet. "No wonder he didn't want me to know anything. That damn idiot had my brothers become State dogs so he would look good. I'm going to kill him."

Unable to sleep and growing more irritated with every passing second, Kate flung the sheets off of herself and slowly rose from her bed, wincing at the stiffness in her leg. Getting dressed quickly, she packed a small shoulder bag and slipped out of her room and then the house.

* * *

"Have you called your sister lately," Roy inquired of the two boys sitting in front of him.

Ed shook his head. "No, not in about two weeks. To be honest, I sort of lost track of time going through Mr. Tucker's research." Smiling bashfully, Ed chuckled and rubbed at the back of his head. "We'll give her a call later on today. It's still kind of early, I don't want to wake her up. She needs her rest, right, Al."

The suit of armor that served as Al's body nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"Well, what's your plan for today? Going back to Mr. Tucker's?" Roy asked boredly, turning in his chair to stare out the window behind him.

"That was the plan," Ed replied.

It was a dull, dreary day. The clouds were gray and heavy and a chill wind was starting to whip its way through the streets of East City.

"It's going to rain," Roy mumbled to himself before spinning himself back around. "Don't get in any trouble."

Face pulling into a scowl, Ed glared at Roy. "It's not like we go looking for trouble, you know?"

Raising an eyebrow to imply that he didn't quite buy Ed's words, Roy nodded. "Right," he drawled. "So the reason why you're so well known is because you're a perfect angel, right?"

Scowl deepening, Ed stood up. "I don't want to hear that I'm a troublemaker from a perverted old man."

"Hey, I'm not that old," Roy protested.

Scoffing, Ed turned to stalk from the room. "At least you didn't deny that you're a pervert, stupid Colonel," he mumbled to himself.

Shaking his head at his stubborn older brother, Al followed him out of the room, waving goodbye to Roy on the way. Walking alongside his brooding brother who was muttering under his breath as they walked, Al couldn't help but to laugh to himself. It was nice to see Ed acting like himself again. The first few weeks after Kate's reappearance had been hard, for the both of them, and neither had really acted normally. Now though, they both knew that Kate was okay and they both believed that their beloved sister would forgive them when the time came for them to confess their sins to her.

* * *

Shivering despite the red flush to her cheeks and the feverish warmth that was heating her body and making her sweat, Kate leaned into the brick wall of a building a few blocks from the train station. She didn't know why she hadn't just gotten a taxi to take her to the military offices where she knew she'd be able to find Roy, but she hadn't. Now she was stuck walking a much greater distance than she was used to with her prosthetic leg and her body wasn't handling the stress of it well.

She was breathing as if she had run a marathon, her breaths tumbling from her lips in quick gasps while her chest rose and fell. Her teeth were clenched and her eyes narrowed slightly in pain. She hadn't realized it yet, but she was unconsciously grasping at her right leg just above the metal joint that connected her fake limb to the real one.

Sweat was dripping in small beads down her forehead, occasionally blurring her vision and forcing Kate to wipe the dampness away with the sleeve of her sweater. Needing a break to rest, she caught sight of a bench just a few yards ahead of her and limping her way to it, she plopped herself down with a tired sigh. Head falling into her chest, she let her golden orbs shut as she clutched at her right leg and let the pain fade and her breathing return to something that resembled normal.

The more normal her breathing became, the more pronounced the burn in her lungs and the itch in her chest and throat became. Swallowing in an effort to stop the coughing fit that she knew was threatening to break from her lips and weaken her further, Kate took a deep breath and stood back up, repositioning her bag over her shoulder she began to walk slowly the remainder of the way to the East City military headquarters.

Her limp was hard to ignore and it was harder to ignore the fact that with every step that she took her right leg became heavier and heavier until she began to feel as if it were made of stone. She knew that it was stupid of her to have left without a word to Pinako or Winry, but she also knew that she wasn't going to get straight answers out of them regardless of how hard she tried. She also figured that Winry would keep far away from her to avoid any other incidents of coming into direct contact with her. So instead of wasting more time, Kate decided that it was best to go to the source of the memory she had seen. Roy.

He had come to visit Ed and Al with Riza. Winry had focused mainly on Roy who had been speaking to her brothers about becoming State Alchemists, after that the young girl had sat down with Riza in the hall. The rest was fairly blurry, but Kate had seen enough to be able to figure out on her own that Roy had recruited her brothers. The realization had irritated her to no end. He was supposed to have looked after them, not have them become dogs of the military so that he could look good.

There had been no way she could ignore the small bit of memory that she had seen when she had touched Winry and she had no intention of being placated by Pinako and given excuses by Roy over the phone. She would find out the truth and when she finally stepped up to the large building that served as East H.Q, she let out a long breath and began the climb up the steps to the entrance.

* * *

Most of his team, Havoc, Falman, Breda and Fuery walked in the door moments after Ed and Al had left. They all had cups of steaming hot coffee in their hands and Fuery even had what looked like an egg sandwich on a plate in his other hand. They all took their seats at the desks that were set up in rows in front of Roy's and began to sip their coffee and flip through the days paper to see what was in store for them.

"We ran in to Ed and Al in the hall. They going to do some more research over Tucker's," Havoc asked, glancing over at Roy who looked unusually sullen today.

"Yeah," Roy answered blankly.

"Something wrong, Colonel, you seem out of it," Breda observed.

"He's just mad that I won't let him go and get his own coffee so he can disappear and spend the morning sleeping in one of the cars again," Riza spoke upon entering the room with two mugs of steaming hot coffee.

"I wasn't going to disappear," Roy grumbled childishly. "I was simply going to go and inspect the storehouses. That's it."

"Of course it is. Maybe you should get to work so you're not here all night. Again," Riza replied stonily, setting his coffee down on his desk and staring at him challengingly until he sighed began to rummage through the piles of paper and folders on his desk.

It was only about ten minutes after Roy had begun to trudge his way through his work that a commotion in the hall caught the attention of everyone in the office. He was about to stand up to see what was going on for himself, but Riza stood first.

"Keep working, I'm not going to chase you through H.Q again today. I'll see what's going on and handle it," Riza told Roy, giving him a warning glance that told him not to argue.

"But I'm the superior officer," he protested.

"If it's something that needs to be brought to your attention, then I'll bring it to your attention, Colonel," Riza said, making her way to the door.

She had just reached the door when the sound of uneven footsteps making their way hurriedly down the hall, followed by shouts and protests, caught everyone's attention as they neared the door. Reacting on instinct, Hawkeye's hand reached for her gun and everyone in the room stood, prepared to take action should it be necessary.

When a red faced, chestnut haired girl stumbled through the open door panting for breath and her golden eyes narrowed in what looked more like anger than anything else at the moment, everyone gasped.

"Kate?" Roy questioned in disbelief stepping from around his desk to hurry towards the girl that was obviously having a very hard time standing up.

"Bastard," she hissed through her clenched teeth while wiping at the sweat that was rolling off her forehead with her now soaking wet sleeve that had mopped up as much dampness as it could.

"Ka-" Roy never got to finish asking what Kate meant, he was sent stumbling backwards when her small, gloved fist collided with his cheek.

Blinking in shock, Roy could only stare at Kate while her chest rose and fell rapidly and she gave him a glare that he knew meant she had learned something he had been trying to keep from her. Not knowing what, he wasn't sure how to proceed, but when a group of security officers and other military personnel flooded into his office with every intention of pouncing on Kate who likely couldn't do much to protect herself, he straightened.

"Stop," he commanded loudly, his authoritative voice carrying throughout the room.

"But sir, she-"

"I don't care what she did," Roy cut in seriously. "I can handle my employees on my own. Now get out."

Confused and uncertain, the group of men that had rushed after Kate exchanged glances and a few words of questioning over his statement that she was his employee before Hawkeye started to shoo them all from the office.

Once the group was gone, leaving Roy, Kate and his rather stunned team alone, Roy glanced over to Kate. She didn't look well to say the least. Her face was splotched with bright red patches, her hair was damp and sticking to her forehead, cheeks and neck from the sweat that was pouring off of her. Her thin shoulders were slumped forward slightly and heaving with every breath she took. She was also tightly grabbing at her right leg with her right hand and keeping as much weight off of the limb as possible.

Frowning, Roy stepped towards her again. He needed to figure out what she knew and then get her to calm down and rest. It had only been a few months since her surgery and moving around as much as she likely had wasn't good for her body.

"Kate," he began again, his hands out in front of him.

"Shut up, bastard," she seethed, swatting his hands away from her. "Where are they? Where are my brothers?"

"I don't know-"

"Bull," Kate yelled, the effort it took raise her voice causing her to cough into her left hand and squeeze her eyes shut while ignoring the burning in her lungs that was spreading throughout her entire body. When she pulled her hand away from her mouth, she noticed, but ignored the several, small specks of red that now adorned it. "Bull," she repeated with much less force. "Why wouldn't you know where two of your subordinates were? They work for you, right? As State Alchemists."

Roy's eyes widened. He had to step very carefully in order to see what it was that Kate knew. So far he knew that she believed both of her brothers were State Alchemists, it wasn't true, but he wasn't sure he should mention that.

"You," she hissed. "I asked you to look after them not to make them dogs that are bound to the military to do whatever the bloodthirsty Fuhrer decides is right for this country. How dare you! Using them to make yourself look good, to score yourself points! They're children!"

Roy sighed, but spoke up. "They're not children anymore, Kate. They're not the same as you remember them from three years ago."

Growling and bristling at the comeback that seemed to have little emotion, Kate narrowed her eyes further. "That may be so. I'm starting to learn that there are a lot of things that aren't how I remember them."

Lowering his head, Roy briefly closed his eyes. His words had been harsh, he knew that, and as much as he hated hurting Kate there was only so much he could do and say at the moment. "The choice to become a State Alchemist was Edward's. He made the choice on his own."

"And Al, what about him? Was the choice his or did he have no choice in the end," Kate asked.

"Al isn't a State Alchemist. It's not that he didn't chose to become one, he can't become one."

While Kate froze, her eyes widening in incomprehension, everyone else simply stared in tense silence between the arguing pair. No one else dared to speak, they were too afraid of saying something that would not only put her wrath on them, but that would give away more than she already knew. Something that they knew Roy would want to avoid until he knew exactly what was going on himself.

"What do you mean he can't become a State Alchemist? He's always been more detail oriented then Ed, even if he is more kind hearted than Ed, he's still skilled at alchemy," Kate said.

"It's not important, what is is-"

"Don't tell me what is important and what's not," Kate interrupted, her chest heaving and her small body rocking from side to side. "They're..They're.."

"Kate," Roy called, dashing forward to catch the small girl before she could slam into the floor. Her knees had given out on her and she began to cough and hack violently as he lowered them both to the floor and kept her in his arms.

"Kate," Roy questioned worriedly. Even through the layers of clothing they both wore he could feel the heat of her fever radiating from her body. "She's burning up. Kate?"

"I'm fine," she snapped through ragged breaths, pulling her hand away from her mouth when her coughing subsided only to see that it was covered in blood that was dripping from her fingers. Her eyes widening at the sight, a sudden sense of weightlessness and lightness made her clutch onto Roy in an effort to get the room to stop spinning wildly.

"Kate," Roy called out when the exhausted woman in his arms began to lose all her color and her head lulled back onto his arm when she fell into unconsciousness. "Kate."

Getting up from behind his desk that he had sat back down behind, Falman approached the couple on the floor and laid a hand on Kate's forehead. "She's running a high fever. We need to do something to lower it as quickly as possible."

"We can take her to my apartment, Hawkeye," Roy said, looking up at the blond woman.

With a nod, Hawkeye turned and made for the door. "I'll meet you at the back door, you won't have to carry her far that way."

Hesitating once Riza was gone, Roy held tightly onto the raggedly breathing and fevered woman in his arms. Once he had thought about his next decision, he sighed and glanced over to Havoc who lifted a brow questioningly.

"I have an idea of what you're thinking, but do you really think that's wise," Havoc asked.

Hanging his head and putting his cheek against Kate's sweat dampened hair, Roy sighed again. "Probably not, but we can't keep lying to her, she's bound to find out what's going on eventually and now that she knows we've been lying..."

"She's more likely to try and keep doing this on her own or forcing it out of us one way or another," Havoc finished.

Roy nodded. "It's best that she find out what happened to her brothers from their own mouths."

"You're the boss," Havoc said, standing lazily and making his own way out of the office.

* * *

Ed could only stare up at Havoc in disbelief. It took him a moment to finally snap himself out of his stupor and frown before looking over his shoulder at his brother who was playing with a small girl no more than five and a large, fluffy dog in the green covered yard of a large house.

"So Kate's here, in East City?" He asked, his eyes still on his brother.

"Yeah," Havoc answered, his cigarette bobbing in his mouth and the thin line of smoking trailing from it, curling in the air. "The Colonel is taking her to his apartment and wants me to take you two there. She's got a pretty high fever and is unconscious at the moment, but I think he wants you to be with her when she wakes up. He wants her to hear what happened from you since it's obvious she's not going to give up and will just keeping hurting herself until she finds out the truth."

Hanging his head, Ed nodded and clenched his fists at his sides. "We knew the time would come to face Kate eventually, but... Does it have to be at the perverted, bastard of a Colonel's apartment?"

Chuckling, Havoc shook his head. "There's a lot Kate doesn't know and there's a lot you don't either, kid. For now let's just focus on getting you and your brother to your sister, alright?"

Eying Havoc suspiciously, Ed was tempted to ask what it was that he didn't know about Kate and the perverted Colonel, but thinking better of it. He turned around and began to walk to where his brother and the small girl, Nina and her dog, Alexander, where all playing. Upon seeing the look on his brother's face, Al's laughter died and a silence engulfed the small group who all seemed to sense that it was better to not saying anything and wait for Ed to speak.

"We need to go for today, Al," Ed said quietly.

"Brother, what's wrong," Al inquired worriedly.

Having a hard time meeting his brother's eyes, Ed shifted his weight around for a moment. "It's Kate. She's in East City."

* * *

Roy sat in his living room, hands clasped and his chin resting atop his fingers while his dark eyes blankly stared at his coffee table. Riza was in his bathroom with Kate. After helping to get the girl into the bathroom, he had left her with Riza who was going to remove her sweat drenched clothes and shower her with cool water in an attempt to get her fever in check before dressing her in clean clothes and with Roy's help, get her into bed. Everyone else had stayed at the office to get as much work done as they could.

When Riza called for him to help her, he stood quickly and went to the bathroom to smile lightly at the sight of Kate engulfed in one of his white t-shirts and a pair of old black sweatpants that looked much too big for her. The brown haired girl was asleep against the wall and he bent down to lift her into his arms and carefully carrying her to his bedroom down the hall.

"Her fever is down. She just needs rest and lots of fluids when she wakes up, she's probably dehydrated. Will you be alright looking after her on your own," Riza asked.

Nodding, Roy sighed softly. "I'll be fine. I think it's best that there are as few people here when she wakes up as possible."

"You're probably right," Riza agreed, glancing at the unconscious woman in the bed briefly. "You know it's not going to be easy for her to accept what happened. She's going to be upset."

"She has every right to be upset after what she's been through and that's why I'm worried that she won't understand the reasons her brothers did what they did."

After a moment of silence, Riza nodded. "I'll be at the office if you need anything."

"Thank you for your help."

Smiling softly, Riza nodded again and then disappeared from Roy's apartment.

"Ah, Lieutenant Hawkeye, how's Kate," Havoc asked when he noticed the blond woman stepping out of their superior's apartment.

"She's still asleep," she answered, eyes wandering over the visibly distressed boys behind Havoc. "But she should be fine. We're to go back to the office."

Blinking, but understanding that it was probably for the best to leave the boys and Roy alone with Kate, Havoc shrugged. "Sure. You two gonna be okay," he asked Ed and Al.

"We'll be fine, thanks," Ed replied, walking past both Havoc and Hawkeye to stand in front of the door to Roy's apartment.

When he heard the door open, Roy left the bedside and made his way back to his living room to see Ed and Al standing by the door. Their heads were down and they looked scared, not that he could blame them.

"So you came," he said.

"Of course we came. I'm not about to leave my sister in the hands of a pervert after all," Ed replied, but his voice didn't hold the same teasing anger that it normally did.

"She's still asleep, if you two aren't ready then I suggest you leave and come back when you are," Roy said. His intention was not to be harsh, but to point out the reality of what was going to happen. If the two teenagers weren't ready to spill all of their secrets then it was best that they left until they were able to handle the fact that they had no idea what was going to happen once everything was told.

"It's not that we aren't ready," Al spoke up. "It's that we love Kate. We don't want to hurt her, but that's impossible. She's going to be hurt and she's going to be upset because of what we did. We know she deserves to the truth from us and we want to give her the truth, but we just don't want to hurt her when she's been through so much already."

"Kate means a lot to us. She's our only real family left and we've always know that she would be hurt and angry.... We want to be honest with her, but we're worried about what happens after that," Ed added.

"Like if she doesn't forgive you?" Roy asked.

The boys both lowered their hands again, Al's squeaking quietly as metal rubbed against metal.

Leaning into the back of his couch and folding his arms over the white button up that he wore beneath his jacket that had been removed since he was no longer required to be in uniform, Roy looked away from the boys and at a picture that sat on the desk was in the corner by a small window.

Noticing the way the silence had grown heavier, Ed looked up and followed the dark eyes of the Colonel. Al's did the same a moment later and it was him that would gasp when he realized that the picture was of Kate and Roy, when he looked down at his older brother he was surprised by the lack of animosity in the bright eyes that stared at the picture. Instead he wore a look that seemed to say he had expected something along these lines, his lips twitched into a frown and his hands clenched when he looked away from the smiling picture of Kate who had her arms wrapped affectionately around Roy's neck.

"I've been wondering what I'll do if she doesn't forgive me for everything I've done and kept from her. It's not something I like to think about. I don't want to lose her, but like you, I know that's a possibility. Your sister is special-"

"Why didn't you tell us," Ed cut in, his voice shaking with anger and bitterness.

"Big brother..."

Shrugging, Roy let out a long breath and ran a hand through his black hair. "It just didn't seem like something you needed to know."

"She's our sister! You were in love with our sister and you didn't think it was important to tell us that," Ed argued.

"I'm still in love with your sister," Roy replied.

Fist shaking at his sides, Ed glared at Roy. "Yet you're the one that gave up on her! You betrayed her and tried to forget about her because your guilt was too heavy to carry!"

"Ed, please," Al pleaded, laying a hollow metal hand on his brother's shaking shoulder. "I'm sure the Colonel had his reasons for not telling us about he and Kate."

"Yeah, like he's a coward. You don't deserve our sister and you know it."

Roy winced at Ed's words, but he didn't really have the strength to say anything back. To say that he was wrong because he was right and Roy knew it.

"Ed, I know you're upset, but please...Remember that Kate's asleep and she probably really needs her rest right now. Traveling all the way from Resembool on her own only a few months after her surgery couldn't have been easy on her."

"I know that, Al, but I'm not letting this go. Tell me why you didn't tell us about you and Kate? There has to be a reason, doesn't there," Ed inquired bitterly.

Al sighed beside his brother and hung his head slightly, knowing there was nothing he could say or do that would get him to stop.

For several moments, Roy remained silent before he finally tore his eyes from the picture of he and Kate and looked at Ed who resembled her so much. "It was because if I was going to help you at all I needed your trust. I made a promise to look after you two should anything happen to Kate, if I had told you the truth about us, would you have trusted me at all? If I had told you that we were involved and it was my failure to keep my promise to her that had caused her to disappear from your lives, would you have trusted me?"

Ed replied quickly, his words startling not only his brother, but Roy as well. "It wasn't your fault. We both know that and we've both always known you blame yourself, we could see it in your eyes. We may be young, but we're not stupid. You should have given us more credit than that," Ed said, looking up defiantly, angrily. "Just because you felt guilty and blamed yourself, doesn't mean that we did, or that even Kate did. If you knew Kate then you would have known that she would never blame you. She's not like that. Neither are we."

Able to only blink at the teenage boy in his living room, Roy was so caught up in his own awe that he didn't hear the door down the hall open or the quiet, uneven footsteps that were slowly making their way towards him.

Al was the first to notice the shadow that appeared from the hall and the first to see his tired, frail looking sister leaning into the wall for support as she entered the room, looking around at the three people in it with sleep heavy eyes.

"Kate?"

Hearing the name fall from his brother's lips, Ed's head snapped around to land on Kate, her face pale and her breathing shallow while she used the wall to support herself and to keep from falling over. He wanted to move to help her, but he was frozen to the spot and could only stare at her while she blinked from him to the suit of armor that she had yet to find out housed her youngest brother's soul.

* * *

~A/N~

Yet another cliff hanger.... Sorry...

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved and alerted this story!

I have created a LiveJournal account that I will updating on a weekly basis with information on all of my stories, ideas, and more. The link is in my profile or yo can just go to livejournal and look up rukia23, I have the same user name there as here.

Please review!!!!


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA.

**Chapter 26**

**Revealed**

"..E-Ed?" Kate stuttered, her gold eyes blinking and widening.

"Kate..." The blond haired boy replied slowly, his face seeming to fall in sadness instead of the happiness that Kate was expecting.

Confused by the look she saw in her brother's eyes and wanting to comfort him, Kate took a step forward and eased herself away from the wall. She had only managed to take a few slow steps before Roy was next to her, an arm around her waist and a hand on her upper arm.

"What are you doing," she inquired when she realized that he was refusing to let her get any closer to her brother.

Looking away guiltily, Roy closed his eyes. "You should give them time to explain first."

Kate blinked away from Roy and back to Ed before letting her eyes wander over the suit of armor beside him. Her brows furrowed for a moment before she asked, "What's Dad's old armor doing here?"

Ed shifted uncomfortably and when he was no longer able to keep looking Kate in the eyes, he turned his head to stare at a dark corner of the room. "W-we..."

"It's me, Kay. Al," Al spoke up, his head squeaking as he lifted an armored hand to rub at the helmet that served as his head.

"Al?" Kate repeated in disbelief. "Geez, you got big..."

Al chuckled nervously. "Well, kind of. You see..."

"Would you let go of me, Mustang," Kate snapped at Roy, trying to shake him off of her, but to no avail.

Roy sighed, it seemed she was still quite mad at him and that her habit of calling him Mustang whenever she was particularly angry hadn't changed.

"It's alright, Mustang, let her go. We'll be fine," Ed said, offering up a half smile and a nod.

Finally free of the hands that were holding her, Kate walked away from Roy and approached her brothers. It was hard to read what Al was thinking, he was covered in armor, but it was easy to see that Ed was feeling very guilty.

"What is it that you two are hiding," Kate asked seriously, stopping a few feet from them and letting her arms hang loosely at her sides. "Well," she pressed when the boys only exchanged glances, but didn't answer. "I would think you would both be happy to see the sister who has been gone for three years, but instead Ed looks like he'd rather crawl in a pit of despair and Al is hiding behind Dad' armor. What's going on?"

"Al's not hiding, Kate," Ed replied quietly, his eyes roaming up to meet his sister's gaze. "He...I... It's my fault. I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what, Ed? What happened?" Kate asked, taking a step closer to her brothers and laying a hand on the armor that housed her youngest brother and her other on top of Ed's head, hoping to be reassuring.

Her eyes widened and she sucked in a deep breath, she pulled her hands away from the two boys and stared with wide eyes at the spot she had touched on Al's arm. She didn't know why, but somehow she just knew that the armor was hollow on the inside. It wasn't just because of how cold the armor was or the emptiness that she felt coming from it. She knew that it if she were to remove the helmet that there would be no grinning boy beneath it, there would be nothing but emptiness and a seal that had been drawn in blood on the neck.

She was still staring dazedly at the armor when Ed spoke up, he didn't know what Kate had seen, but he knew it couldn't have been much since she had snatched her hand away almost as soon as she had touched him.

"Kate," Ed said pleading, his right hand reaching up to take hold of one of Kate's hands that she had brought in front of her body as if to protect herself from what ever dreadful image she had seen. It looked almost as if she were fighting an internal battle, her eyes looked so troubled and uncertain while she stared blankly ahead of her.

Sensing something was off with the hand that had taken hers because it felt too heavy and the movements were somewhat mechanical, Kate pulled her hand away and took a step back. Her eyes were blinking from Ed to Al and she was shaking her head slowly from side to side. When Roy appeared behind her and her back bumped into his chest, she froze and leaned into him for support while he tried to soothingly squeeze her arms to assure her everything was fine.

Flexing his right arm in front of him and watching the fingers curl and uncurl, Ed frowned before reaching for the glove that covered the hand. Slowly removing the fabric of the glove from his hand, Ed revealed the gleaming metal and mechanical joints of the automail that was attached to his shoulder. He also removed the glove that covered his other hand so that his flesh hand was also visible.

"My right arm," Ed said to no one in particular. "And my left leg." He tapped on his left leg below the knee with his right hand, a small tinging noise echoed throughout the quiet room. "And Al's body. I lost them all."

A quiet rustling made Kate shift her attention to Al who was reaching up to remove his helmet. When the helmet came away from the rest of the armor to reveal nothing but darkness inside, Kate gasped and would have collapsed onto the floor if it weren't for Roy holding her up.

Leaning forward, Al pointed to a small circle that Kate could only barely make out in the dimness.

"Brother was able to bring my soul back by paying with his right arm and attaching it to the armor. We-"

Kate interrupted before Al could continue. "What did you do," she asked, her voice shaking with suspicion and a trace of anger while her eyes switched between the two boys slowly.

"We tried to bring mom back," Ed answered quietly.

Choking on a strangled sob, Kate slipped out of Roy's arms and sunk down on to the floor. She didn't say anything, she had no words with which to speak anyways, she just stared at the floor in shock.

"We missed her a lot and we wanted to make things easier for you," Al spoke up. "You were working so hard and you always looked so tired..."

"I thought that I had perfected it. The equation necessary to bring a human back to life-"

"How could you be so arrogant?!" Kate snapped, looking up from the floor with angry tears in her eyes. "Human lives aren't toys, they aren't meant to played around with like some game. You thought you had perfected human transmutation? You're a fool."

Lowering his head and staring at the gleaming metal of his right arm, Ed took a shallow breath and released it slowly. "I know that now. I was too confident in my own abilities. I thought that I could do anything. Now I know that's not true, but I will get Al's body back, I promise."

Sitting on the floor and trying not to lose all control over her much too sensitive emotions, Kate shook her head. "You're lying. This can't be real, this has to be just a dream."

"Kate, it's not a dream," Roy spoke softly, leaning down beside her and putting a hand on her back.

Body trembling, Kate shook her head again and squeezed her eyes shut. "No..."

"Kay," Ed said, stepping closer to his sister that was huddle on the floor.

When she wouldn't look up at him, Ed sighed and sat down beside her, flexing his mechanical fingers the entire time. He put his left hand over one of her hands that was lying on the floor to support her and didn't fail to notice the way she stiffened or the how she curled her hand into a fist the longer that he left it over hers.

"Stop it," she yelled, abruptly pulling her hand out from beneath Ed's and holding it close to her chest. "Just stop it," she whispered pleading, tears leaking from her eyes one after another.

"Kate," Roy murmured, pulling her shivering body closer to his and letting a brief smile flicker over his features when Kate buried her head in his shoulder and grabbed onto him before her sobs began to echo through his quiet apartment. "I'm sorry I kept this from you, Kate. I was worried that you, you were so frail and you seemed so lost-"

"It's not your fault," Kate interrupted. "The blame is on them."

"We just wanted to see mom again," Al mumbled guiltily.

"I was so sure that we could bring her back, that we would be able to see her smile again that I never thought about the consequences. I was selfish," Ed said, his eyes landing on the shiny metal of Kate's right leg.

Her sobs subsiding, Kate shook her head and took in a shaky breath. "Selfish doesn't even begin to cover it," she muttered, her confusion, her sadness and her disbelief slowly melting away to be replaced with a burning anger that made her fists clench around the fabric of Roy's shirt while she kept her head firmly buried against his chest.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I never meant for any of this to happen," Ed said, staring at his clenched metal fist.

No longer able to keep quiet, Kate turned on Ed, her eyes hard and red from the tears she had shed. Clenching her jaw, she used Roy for support to stand up and stared down at Ed. "Never meant for any of this to happen? Then you shouldn't have messed with human lives, Ed. You are not a God, you're an alchemist, there is a difference regardless of what some may think! How dare you try to infringe on the lines between man and God!"

Ed hung his head as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders and listened to Kate's voice rise in pitch. When an armor glove rested itself on his shoulder, he glanced at it and up at his younger brother. A heavy pang of guilt caused him to look away again without so much as a word.

"It's not Ed's fault. He tries to take all the blame because he feels responsible for me losing my body, he forgets that we're both to blame. We both decided to try and bring mom back that day and we both paid for our mistake."

"So this is what you've been hiding? This is why you were too cowardly to face your own sister?" Kate asked harshly, eyes switching from Ed to Al before settling on Ed.

Putting a hand on Kate's shoulder, Roy tried to capture Kate's attention in hopes he could calm her down. Her face was growing red and he could feel the heat pouring off of her. Her fever was growing worse and judging by the way her breaths were growing shallower and rougher, he knew that she needed to be resting and not risking seriously damaging her health.

"Why don't you take some time to think and rest, Kate. You're burning up," Roy pointed out.

"You should rest, Kay. You're still adapting to the automail and given what you've been through-"

Her hand flew so fast that the only anyone could register was the loud sound of her palm making contact with Ed's cheek and the look of surprise on his face.

"How would you know what I've been through, Ed?!" Kate shouted, angry tears filling her golden eyes. "How would you know what it's like to be held prisoner by some insane man who thinks you can house his dead wife's soul?" The tears were sliding down her cheeks now, one after another. "I thought I'd never see you again and all I had were my memories. Memories of you two, of mom and dad, Roy...I cherished those memories. In those memories the two of you were my sometimes annoying, but still perfect brothers. I was proud of you two, but now...Now I can't even look at you. You two are not my brothers. My brothers would never have thought they could walk amongst Gods."

"I'm sorry," Ed muttered, his neck bent and his blond hair hiding his face so that no one could see the salty water leak from his eyes.

"Sorry just doesn't cut this time, Ed," Kate replied quietly, looking away from Ed and Al and clenching her jaw while warm tears continued streaming from her eyes.

"But, Kay, we-"

"I'm sorry, Al," Kate spoke up, keeping her head turned away from her brothers and beginning to limp back towards the hall and Roy's bedroom. "I don't want to hear anything else."

"Kay," Al protested, stepping towards his departing sister.

"It's alright, Al," Ed said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Let her go."

"Big brother, we can't leave things like this! I know she's mad at us, we deserve it, but-"

"That's enough, Al," Ed cut in monotonously. "We should go. We have no reason to be here, besides we haven't finished our research yet."

"Ed," Al argued. "I want to stay with, Kay, even if she doesn't want me here, I want to stay. She's our sister-"

"I said that's enough," Ed repeated. "Let's go." Turning away from Roy and Al, Ed walked to the door and opened it, casting a quick warning glance over to his younger brother before stepping past the threshold.

Torn, Al stood where he was, shifting his attention from the door his brother had walked through to the hall that Kate had disappeared down.

"You should go with your brother, Al. Kate needs time to think right now. You have to have some idea of what she likely saw when Ed touched her and even though I only saw the aftermath, I think it's safe to say that anyone would need time to process that."

"Yeah... Please take care of Kay," Al asked sadly before turning to follow after his brother.

Running a hand through his hair, Roy glanced down the hall at his closed bedroom door. With a sigh, he walked to his kitchen and made a quick cup of hot tea that he carried with him down the hall. When he opened the bedroom door he was greeted by darkness. The thick curtains were pulled over the windows, blocking out all but a few tiny slivers of sunlight and all of the lights were off.

His shadow was thrown forward, illuminated by the lights from the living room and he could barely make out Kate's body huddled on his bed. Her knees were drawn into her chest and she was resting her cheek against one of her arms which were both wrapped around her legs. Her eyes were open and staring blankly at the far wall, she ignored his presence in the room and let the tears that were flowing from her eyes continue to fall.

Flipping the switch that would turn the light on, Roy approached Kate and set the tea had made her on the nightstand before sitting beside her and putting a hand on her back.

"How are you feeling," he asked quietly.

Kate didn't answer, she just shook her head and leaned into Roy, shifting her position so that she huddled against him with her knees resting against his legs.

Brushing Kate's hair from her forehead, Roy kissed the top of her head and held her tightly against him.

"I'm sorry," Kate whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

Confused by her apology, Roy leaned back in an attempt to see Kate's face, but she had her head turned into chest so that he could only see the top of her head. Frowning, he gently put his hand under her chin and tilted her face upwards so that he could see into her red rimmed that were still spilling salty tears down her cheeks. "What are you talking about? You have nothing to apologize for, Kate."

Turning her head so that she was no longer forced to look up into Roy's eyes, Kate once again buried her head into his chest. "What I said before...I'm sorry."

"I still don't understand."

Her fingers tightened their grip on Roy's shirt and she took in a shaky breath. "I didn't see much..Just a brief flicker when I touched Winry, but with that was a sense that the boys were being forced into something. She must have felt really strongly about you being there.." Kate trailed off, tightening her grip on Roy and squeezing her eyes shuts.

She felt incredibly guilty for having accused Roy of only looking out for himself and having recruited the boys just to make himself look good. She now understood things better. In the state that the boys where in they would benefit more than Roy by joining the ranks of State Alchemists. They were trying to restore themselves and to do that they needed information. Information wasn't always easy to get without money and access to things that normal people would never be able to see.

"You don't need to apologize, Kate, it was a misunderstanding. That's it," Roy said, brushing her hair from her fevered forehead and gently kissing the warm skin.

Kate jolted in response to the gesture and lifted her head to look into Roy's eyes. She saw no anger there like she had expected, there was only love and what she thought was relief. Reaching up slowly, she put a hand on his cheek and let her fingers glide over his skin.

Capturing her hand in his own, Roy placed a soft kiss on the tops of her fingers before releasing her hand and letting his own fingers skim over Kate's cheek and down her neck. Combing his fingers through her thick hair and then let his fingers rest on her cheek. Leaning down, Roy let his lips brush tentatively brush over Kate's.

Taking a shuddering breath in response to the lustful gesture, Kate closed her eyes, relishing the closeness that she had missed and longed for for so long. Her hand replaced itself on Roy's cheek, stroking the familiarly warm skin while her lips lifted in a happy smile and she sighed contentedly.

After several more chaste, exploratory kisses, Roy let his hand wander to Kate's neck were he gently, but urgently pulled her closer to him, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. Kate responded by wrapping her arms around Roy and holding him tightly as if she were afraid he'd disappear if she so much as loosened her grasp on him.

When Kate broke the kiss, leaning her head against Roy's forehead, she closed her eyes and took in a long, calming breath.

Caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers, Roy tried to look into her eyes only to see they were closed. "Kate," he questioned quietly.

She shook her head minutely, briefly squeezing her eyes shut tighter then they already were. "It's nothing," she answered in a soft whisper, letting her hands fall from his back and leaning back, away from him.

The shiny drops of water that slipped from beneath her closed eyelids didn't escape Roy's notice. He wiped the salty tears from her cheeks and sighed. It wasn't hard to figure out by the way she was pulling away from his touch that she had seen something in his past that had been hurtful. It also wasn't hard to figure out what she had likely seen, he had been truthful to her when he had said that his relationships hadn't all been respectable ones. "I'm sorry," he said, letting his hand drop away from her cheek in shame.

Shaking her head again, Kate blinked her eyes open, several more tears slipped from her eyes and she wiped them away before they could fall from her chin. "It's okay. You were honest with me from the start and I appreciate that. I just wasn't prepared," her voice was growing thick with emotion and she lowered her when the tears began to fall faster from her eyes. "Everything is so different now... I don't know what I expected, I guess I was holding on so tightly to the past through everything that I never really was able to let go of it. I'm holding on to how things were and I don't want to let go... I don't know how..." She trailed off, her shoulders shaking while she sobbed quietly. "I'm scared, Roy. Everything is so different. So much has changed and I don't know what to do."

Wrapping her up in his arms, Roy pulled Kate into his chest and let her cry while he held her. "It's understandable that you be scared. I'm scared too. I don't want to lose you, Kate, not again." He kissed her forehead before resting his cheek against her head. "It's going to take time for everything to get back to some sort of normalcy and no one expects it to be easy. You have a lot of people who care about you, Kate, none of us want to rush you. You've been through a lot, but we are all here for you no matter what. Your brothers included. They've really missed you, Kate, and they never gave up on you."

Kate's sobbing intensified and she clutched on to Roy as she trembled and let her body tire itself out. Feeling the exhaustion tugging at her and trying to pull her into unconsciousness, Kate looked up at Roy, he seemed sad and ashamed of himself as he stared down at her. "I love you, nothing I see in your past will change that. I just need time." She smiled wanly at him before kissing him sweetly. "Tell Ed and Al the same thing. I just need time to process everything." Her voice faded away and her eyes fluttered closed as sleep claimed her.

* * *

Al sat against the wall of the hotel room he shared with his brother. He was watching his older brother as the golden eyed boy stared blankly up at the ceiling form where he laid on the couch. It was easy to see the sadness that hung around him like a cloud, clinging to him relentlessly while he silently thought over the events of the last few hours.

"Hey brother," Al spoke up, quietly, uncertainly.

There was a short pause before Ed replied, his voice empty and lacking any emotion. "What is it, Al?"

"Um.." Al hesitated, not sure what to really say, but knowing he needed to say something because the silence was becoming too overwhelming. "Are we still going to go to Mr Tucker's tomorrow?"

"Sure," Ed answered.

Silence descended upon the two brothers again and Al began to fidget, his armor squeaking in protest occasionally. Sighing, Al decided to speak up again.

"We hurt Kate," he said. "She's been through so much... It must be so hard for her. Everything is so different from when she left. Especially us. Do you think we should try going to see her tomorrow?"

"Why," Ed asked, covering his eyes with his arm. "You heard her. She doesn't to see us."

Al sighed dejectedly. "Yeah, but she's our sister and she shouldn't be all alone right now. She may be mad, but-"

"She's got the bastard Mustang. She's not alone, Al."

"But still," Al protested. "We shouldn't give up on Kate now. We spent all these years waiting for her and now that she's back we should-"

"Just stop it, Al. I'm not in the mood," Ed cut in, rolling over on to his side so that his back was to his brother.

Frowning inwardly, Al sighed, but decided to keep quiet. Ed needed time to come to terms with Kate's reaction, just like Kate needed time to let things settle in. The world that she had left behind when she had disappeared had drastically changed. It had to be scary to realize that everything you knew was completely different, she had to feel extremely lost and alone. Al could understand how she had to have felt pretty well, things were never going to be the same for him, just as things would never be the same for her. Their lives had changed forever and it wasn't easy to move on when you were feeling scared and alone, but at the same time there was nothing else to do but move forward and think positive.

Thinking positively was something he had become quite good at and he had little doubt in his mind that Kate would one day forgive he and Ed. He was more than willingly to wait for that day to come. Now that they knew that Kate was safe and alive after waiting three years, clinging on to their belief that she was alive the entire time, waiting for her to come to terms with the mistakes they had made seemed like nothing.

* * *

~A/N~

If no one noticed then great, but I haven't really edited this chapter. I'm updating from a friend's house and am a little distracted by her two year old daughter who's dancing to the Orgy cd that's playing. It's pretting amusing.

Anyway, please review!


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA

**Chapter 27**

When she awoke, she immediately noted that the other side of the bed was empty and Roy was nowhere to be seen in the bedroom. With a glance at the clock she realized why. It was three in the afternoon.

Blinking at the clock, Kate was stunned to find she had slept so long, especially since she was still exhausted and probably could have slept much longer. Her stomach had other plans though. It grumbled loudly in complaint to the fact that she hadn't eaten in over a day.

Tossing the blankets off of herself and carefully moving her legs to the end of the bed, she slowly started to stand. She could tell her body was sore, her right leg especially and she wanted to be sure she could support herself before making the trip to the kitchen to cook. Once standing she experimentally took a step, keeping the bed on her right in case her leg gave out. Thankfully, it didn't, it did hurt a bit, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle seeing as how the pain of the surgery itself had been far more excruciating.

Having expected to be alone in the apartment, Kate made her way out of the bedroom only to screech in surprise when Riza appeared at the other end of the hallway.

"Are you alright," the blond woman asked, coming to Kate's side and resting a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

Slouching forward and letting out a half laugh, she nodded. "I'm fine, you startled me is all. I thought I was alone."

"The Colonel didn't want you left alone when he went to work. He wasn't sure how you would be feeling when you woke up."

Kate smiled wanly as Riza helped her to the living room. "Compared to the way the boys must feel after everything I said last night, I'm fine."

"They've really missed you. It's been hard on them to lie to you and not be able to see you, but everyone thought it was for the best. After what you had been through Roy wasn't sure if you would be able to handle learning the truth of what happened."

"It must have been so hard for them," Kate murmured, her eyes downcast. "They've dealt with so much all on their own... I can't believe I was so horrible to them, it had to have taken so much courage to face me."

"Don't underestimate those two," Riza told her, smiling warmly. "I'm sure they understand how hard it is to come to terms with what has happened in their past. They know it will take time for you to understand and to forgive them."

There was a loud knock on the door that startled Kate and she jolted as she sat down on the couch, glancing behind her to the door as Riza walked over to it. When she opened it a grim faced Havoc stood on the other side, his lips pulled into a frown and missing the cigarette that normally sat on them.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Hawkeye, but you're needed by the Colonel," Havoc seemed to hesitate here as he glanced at Kate. "Something has happened at the Tucker residence."

Understanding that it was probably best not to mention that the Elric brothers currently were studying with the mentioned alchemist, Riza nodded and turned to Kate.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm a little sore, but I can get around on my own just fine," Kate spoke up before the blond woman had the chance to say anything.

"Are you sure you'll be alright," Riza asked.

"Yup," Kate chirped. "I'm just going to make something to eat and probably go back to bed, I'm still exhausted to be honest."

Nodding, Riza retrieved her black over coat from the coat rack by the door. "Let's go," she said to Havoc, stepping into the hall and shutting the door behind her.

Kate sighed and sagged into the couch, staring absently at the ceiling. "It's weird to be back and be out of the loop. It's still so hard to believe so much time has passed..."

* * *

When Roy returned to his apartment it was past ten o'clock at night. He wasn't surprised to find that the whole place was dark and that Kate was sound asleep in bed. She looked peaceful and he couldn't help but to sit down beside her and a brush a hand over her cheek.

She stirred lightly and her eyes fluttered open tiredly. When she looked up at Roy, she smiled groggily. "You're home."

"Yeah, I'm home," he replied, his voice sounding worn.

Frowning, Kate sat up. "Is everything alright?"

He sighed heavily, his eyes closing briefly. "It's been a long day. I was reminded of the reasons why State Alchemists are considered devils and Ed and Al understand now too... What it really means to be a dog of the military."

"What happened," Kate asked worriedly. "Are the boys alright?"

"They're fine. Physically, anyway," Roy answered.

"Roy, what happened?"

"Your brothers have been researching biological transmutation at the home of the local alchemist, Shou Tucker, who is known for his work with chimeras. He's most know for the talking chimera he created two years ago."

"A talking chimera? That's impossible."

"Not when you use your own wife and dog for material. It's easy to see now why the creature said only one thing 'I want to die' and then stopped eating until it did just that."

Kate blinked at him in incomprehension.

"Today the boys went over to Tucker's house to continue their research and found the alchemist in his lab. His young daughter and dog nowhere to be found."

"You can't mean he-"

"He used his own child and their dog to create another talking chimera. The daughter and dog had both grown quite fond of your brothers, they spent any down time they had playing with them. It didn't take for Ed long to realize what Tucker had done and he nearly killed him when he did realize it."

"My God," Kate whispered.

"I don't think God had anything to do with it," Roy sighed.

"W-what's going to happen to them? The alchemist and his.. daughter?"

Roy shook his head. "They will be picked up tomorrow and taken to Central. Tucker will go to trial and it's unknown what will happen to his daughter, but it's likely she'll be-"

"Never mind," Kate cut in, screwing her eyes shut as tears sprung up in them. "I don't want to think about what they'll do to her. It's just... It's not right."

For several moments nothing was said, Kate tried to keep the tears from spilling over, but she couldn't help it. It was sad that a young girl and her dog had had to be used as material in a transmutation because of greed, it was sadder still that she knew they would never be able to return to their original bodies. Then there was the fact that it was quite likely they would be used for research and treated like nothing more than animals. She hadn't even known the little girl or the dog that Ed and Al had played with and she couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for them to see what they had. To know that they couldn't do anything.

"My brothers," Kate began. "I should go see them."

"It's late," Roy pointed out.

"You think they'll be asleep after today?"

"Good point," he replied quietly.

* * *

It hadn't taken Kate long to change into a pair of black pants and a long sleeved red shirt. She hadn't brought a lot with her and Roy gave her his coat to wear since it was rather chilly outside and it had begun to rain softly. Huddling into the coat, she let Roy guide her to the car that he had parked in front of the building.

Nothing was really said during the short drive, Kate stared out of the window and watched the rain as it ran in rivers down the glass. The city was dark, not many people were on the streets and most shops and restaurants had closed for the night. It was rather solemn and somehow fitting, Kate thought.

"I'll walk you inside," Roy offered, startling Kate when he opened the door.

She hadn't noticed that the car had come to a stop beneath a covered drive through. Taking Roy's hand that he was holding out to her, she stepped carefully out of the car. Her right leg was aching badly, the cold and the damp weather making the prosthetic limb feel heavy and her bones chill.

Once inside Roy nodded his greeting to the clerk on duty and lead Kate towards the elevator. When they got to the third floor he walked her to a door towards the end of the long hall.

"Are you okay," he asked her.

She nodded. "I'll be fine. Thank you for bringing me, but I think I'll be alright on my own now."

He frowned at her, he didn't really want to leave her at the hotel, but he knew her brothers would take care of her. "Do you want me to wait?"

"No, I think I'll be here awhile."

"I'll talk with the clerk on the way out and arrange for a car to take you back to my apartment when you're ready."

"Thank you, Roy," she glanced up at him and managed a weak smile. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kate." He kissed her gently, sighing longingly when he stepped away from her and left her standing in front of the door to her brothers' room.

He heard her small fist knock quietly and heard the door creak open. When he reached the elevator and turned he saw Al standing in the doorway while Kate smiled ruefully up at him.

* * *

"Who is it, Al?"

"K-Kay?" Al stuttered when he opened the door.

"Kate," Ed sat up from where he lay on the couch in the center of the hotel room and blinked towards the door.

"Hey little brothers," she said, tears filling her eyes as she looked between the two.

"Wh-what are you doing here, Kay?" Al asked.

"I heard about what happened today," she answered, lowering her head and letting her tears drip down her chin. "And.. I'm sorry boys. I'm so sorry."

"Kay," Al sniffled, stepping forward to wrap his sister who now much smaller than him up in a hug.

"Lets go inside, Al," Kate suggested softly.

* * *

When she fell asleep several hours later, she lay huddled against Al on the couch, smiling since Ed had finally fallen asleep with his stomach partially exposed as he always used to. They had all cried, had all comforted one another and had all remembered that there was nothing like the bonds they shared and that those bonds were very strong.

A peace had fallen over the boys in her presence, Ed didn't look so haggard and Al sounded less withdrawn as the night wore on. They talked about a lot, the failed attempt to bring their mother back, what had happened after that and what had happened to Nina Tucker and Alexander. Shou Tucker's daughter and dog.

They had told her they planned to get up early to visit Roy so that they could find out what would be done with the both of them. She told them what Roy had told her, but they still wanted to make the trip in hopes they would be allowed to see Nina.

It was still quite early when Ed awoke, the sun had barely started to rise and the birds were just beginning to sing. The rain had stopped during the night, but the clouds were still dark and heavy looking in the distance. There was no doubt it would rain again today.

"Should we wake Kay," Al asked his older brother quietly.

Ed shook his head. "No, let her sleep. She must still be pretty exhausted from her trip down here. Besides, it's pretty chilly out and the automail is probably making her bones and muscles ache from the cold. It's better she stay inside and stay warm."

"Okay, I'll at least move her to the bed."

Yawning, Kate blearily opened her eyes and tiredly looked up at Al as he covered her with a blanket. "Thanks," she said. "It's early, what are you boys doing up?"

"We're going to go see the Colonel," Ed answered solemnly.

Knowing they wanted to go alone, Kate nodded around glanced out the window. She was debating about going home to Roy's apartment or staying.

"You should stay in bed and rest, Kay," Ed told her. "Your leg must be aching pretty badly, it's best you stay warm and get some rest."

"Yeah, we won't be gone long, ok?"

"Ok," Kate replied, smiling up at Al. "See you boys when you get back."

* * *

"Oh, Ed, Al," Riza in surprise when she opened the door of the Colonel's office and nearly collided with the two brothers standing outside of it. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to see what was going to happen to Mr. Tucker and Nina," Ed answered, sadly looking down at the ground, ashamed that he couldn't do anything to help the girl.

Riza frowned and took a deep breath. "Tucker was going to be put on trial in Central, however, the two of them died. Officially they were murdered. I'm telling you this because even if I lied you would still find out what happened."

"What?" Ed cried, following the first lieutenant down the hall as she proceeded to make her way to the exit. "By who?"

"I don't know. I'm heading over to the scene now," Riza answered.

"We'll come with you," Ed stated.

Stopping, she turned ad shook her head. "No, it's best that you didn't see."

Ed stopped following after Riza a look of horrified shock on his face. Behind him Al stood silently watching as Riza disappeared down the hall. When Ed fisted his hands and his head dropped forward, Al laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Big brother," Al said sadly.

"Let's go, Al."

* * *

Startled, Kate's eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in bed, her head swiveling towards the door. A loud knock and a shout had woken her, but she wasn't sure if it was a dream or not.

Another knock, followed by another shout. "Ms. Elric?"

Confused about why someone would be looking for her, Kate stepped out of bed and made her way to the door. When she opened it a worried looking young man in a military uniform fidgeted and looked away. "I'm Kate Elric."

"You have a phone call down at the desk, ma'am. It's urgent."

"One moment," she turned and slipped her feet into the boots she had set by the door, quickly tying them before following the young man to the elevator.

In the lobby, the young man gestured to a phone sitting on the desk. Kate picked up and brought to her ear with a slight frown.

"This is Kate Elric," she said into the mouth piece.

"Kate, thank God," Roy's breathed on the other end.

"Roy? What's wrong?"

There was a hesitation on the other end of the line. "Are your brothers there?"

"No, they went to see you," she answered, her eyebrows knitting together as she looked at the clock to see that almost two hours had passed since the boys had left the hotel.

"They left HQ awhile go, Hawkeye saw them heading back down the main street. I thought they might have gone back to the hotel."

"I haven't seen them yet. Roy, what's going on?" Kate asked, she had realized that there were far more military policemen in the hotel than was probably normally. "Why are there so many military police officers milling around here?"

"It's-"

Kate didn't hear whatever Roy had begun to say, she had overheard a nearby officer telling another of a murderer that hunted only licensed State Alchemists and how he had apparently killed several people in Central City before coming to East City.

"Licensed State Alchemists," she muttered, her eyes widening. "Ed."

"Kate?"

She didn't listen, she dropped the phone on the desk and ran out of the hotel into the pouring rain. Her hair that was still slightly messy from not having been brushed was quickly plastered against her face and neck. Her wrinkled clothes were soaked in minutes and clinging to her body as she ran haphazardly down the street towards the main road.

Her leg was burning and aching in protest, but she ignored it and kept on running. She made her way to the main road in only five minutes and with a quick glance around turned to the left to head towards the HQ itself. She had barely begun to run again when a loud crashing sound made her turn and snap her head to the right.

Dust and dirt was rising into the air around the corner of an old bookstore and people were running away from the area. There was a flash of light that signaled a transmutation followed by the sounds of another explosion coming from the direction everyone was running from. Without thinking about anything Kate took off in the direction, running across the street and turning the corner at a full sprint.

She could hear the sounds of a fight coming from an alley that wasn't too much farther ahead, she kept running only to stop uncertainly when someone flew out of the alley and slammed harshly into the road. It only took her a minute to realize that Ed was the one who lay on the ground and was struggling to sit up, she started to move again, but halted when a large man with dark skin stepped menacingly out of the alley and walked towards Ed.

Clenching her jaw and fisting her hands, Kate sucked in a big breath and ran forward. The sound of the rain dulled her approach and when she neared the large man, ducking down and swiping a leg out to knock him off balance she expected to hit her target. Her eyes widened in surprise when her leg kicked through nothing but air.

"Kay!"

Turning her head, Kate stared unblinkingly at the broken armor that was her younger brother who was trying desperately to climb out of the alley. "Al," she said shakily.

"Run, Kay!" He shouted.

"If you interfere, I'll kill you too," a deep voice stated with certainty and no hint of fear or remorse.

Looking back up at the dark skinned man to see he had an X shaped scar on his face, Kate froze for a moment and could only watch as a hand came shooting towards her.

"Kate!"

Snapping out of her stupor at Ed's shout, Kate dropped backwards and shot her right foot upwards hoping to catch her attacker in the chin. He was too quick and easily managed to grab a hold of her leg, there was a strange sound and a jolt was sent through her body, but otherwise nothing happened.

Apparently not understanding why whatever he had attempted to do didn't work, he glared at her before kicking Kate in the side and sending her rolling into her younger brother in the alley with a fairly loud crash.

"Damn it!" Ed shouted, standing up and shedding the long red coat he wore.

"Automail, I see. It wouldn't be destroyed through human deconstruction."

Clapping his hands together, Ed ran his right hand over his left arm to create a long blade from the automail on his arm.

"I've wasted enough time on you," the scarred man growled, crouching slightly like a predatory cat.

"Yeah, well I'm not playing by your schedule," Ed snapped by defiantly.

"Brother, no! Run!" Al shouted.

"I can't leave you and Kate," Ed countered.

"Idiot," Al cried. "Just go!"

Shaking off the effects of the harsh kick and collision with her brother, Kate sat up slowly, rubbing at her side absently. Her gold eyes were locked on Ed and without much thought, she clapped her hands together and slammed them down on to the wet ground. The water on the ground began to grow frosty around her hands and a wall of ice, small at first, but growing as it raced forward to block the man's path to Ed.

She gritted her teeth when the man barely batted an eye and blew the wall to smithereens. "Dammit." Clapping her hands again, she slammed them back down on the ground. The ground began to crack and rumble, zigzagging towards the tall, dark skinned man. Kate knew that there were tunnels beneath most of the streets in East City and was hoping to blow up enough of the ground to cause the man to plummet into them.

She gasped, her eyes widening when the man was no longer standing before Ed.

"Kay!" Ed yelled frantically.

"Those who interfere with God's work must die," the man said to her as he appeared in front of her a hand reaching for her.

She screamed when she was pushed down, her side smashing into the wet ground sending a tremor of pain through her entire body.

"Leave them alone!" Ed shouted, charging forward with his automail arm raised and the tip of the sharp blade heading for the man who had attacked Kate.

Despite his size the man moved with a graceful ease and was able to avoid Ed's attack without a problem. He also managed to grab a hold of Ed's automail arm. "Time to destroy this annoying arm."

"Ed," Kate cried from where she was trying to push herself up as Ed's arm erupted into a useless mess of metal parts that scattered everywhere.

Shocked, Ed collapsed onto the ground shaking, whether from cold of fright it was hard to tell. "I'll give you time to pray to God."

"Sorry," Ed spoke up softly, dejectedly. "But there isn't a God I feel like praying to. You're only after me, right? My brother and my sister, will you kill them?"

"Only if they interfere."

"Ed, run," Kate screamed, sitting up and trying to stand only to have her leg give out. She cringed as she slammed back into the ground. "Dammit, not now."

Ed ignored her and stayed crouched on the wet ground while the dark skinned man towered over him. "Really? Then promise me you'll leave them alone."

"Ed, dammit, you stubborn fool, run!" Kate shouted, tears falling from her eyes and mixing with the rain that coated her face. She gripped her leg in her hands trying to will it to move, but it was so heavy and her bones ached so badly she couldn't do much but scoot around like a child that hadn't yet learned to walk. "Run!"

"I'll keep my promise," the man told Ed.

"Thank you," Ed replied, hanging his head despondently.

Summoning up as much strength as she could and ignoring the groaning, painful protest in her stiff right leg, Kate shoved herself up from the wet concrete. Her boots splashed through the puddles as she ran only to toss herself over her Ed.

"Stop," she pleaded, her eyes closed as she pulled Ed protectively against her. "Please stop."

"Get out of the way," the man demanded.

"Kay, what are you doing," Ed asked, shocked.

"You're supposed to listen to me, I'm the older sister remember? So why didn't you run, idiot?" She was half sobbing now as she cradled Ed protectively in her arms.

"If you won't move then I'll just have to kill you."

Al was shouting behind her and Ed was struggling to get her to release him, but she held firm and kept her eyes closed as the tears continued to flow freely from them. They snapped open a second later when a loud shot echoed through the rainy morning air.

"That's quite enough of that."

"Roy," Kate muttered, looking up to see the black haired man staring at the man who was probably poised to attack her with unmasked anger. Her hold on Ed slackened, but the boy barely noticed he was too absorbed in what was going on.

"That's as far as you go," Roy said authoritatively, his eyes narrowing darkly.

"Colonel, this guy's-"

"A suspect in the serial murders of National Alchemists," Roy cut in, not once taking his eyes from the dark skinned attacker when Ed spoke. "And after taking a look at the present situation it's also clear that you're behind the murders at the Tucker residence."

Ed gasped, his teeth smashing together as he glared at the man behind Kate.

Being so relieved to see Roy with Riza and the rest of the team as well as several cars of military police, Kate took a deep breath and let her head fall into her heaving chest. All sound drowned out while she took deep, calming breaths while allowing all of her muscles to relax. She was happy to be alive, for a moment she hadn't thought that she was going to survive. She was happier still that Ed and Al were both alive, a bit worse for wear, but alive nonetheless.

"Kay? Kay, are you alright?"

"Hm?" She blinked her eyes open and looked behind her to see all staring at her. Scooting over to Al she sat beside him and smiled. She was about to reply when she heard a shout followed by several gunshots. Her head snapped towards the sound to see Riza using two guns simultaneously to shoot at the dark skinned man while Roy was muttering to himself behind her.

"I'll annihilate everyone here!" The dark skinned man shouted.

"Then try to!" Another deep voice challenged before a loud rumble echoed through the streets when a large man in military dress appeared beside the killer of State Alchemists and punched through a wall when the man managed to avoid his fierce blow.

Kate didn't know who this new man was. He was large and yet moved with the ease of someone much smaller. His alchemy was powerful and his attacks well placed and timed. It was with his help that Riza managed to get a clear shot at the man they were trying to subdue, but she missed. The bullet only grazed his head, breaking the sunglasses he wore to cover shield his eyes. Eyes that were red and narrowed with fury.

"An Ishvalan," Kate muttered in surprise, blinking at the scarred man. "Now it makes sense."

"What do you mean?" Al asked.

Glancing back at Al, Kate let her eyes briefly flicker to Roy. The dark haired man seemed just as stunned as she was, but she could see the grim understanding of the situation on his face. "You know what happened in Ishval, don't you? What the government used the licensed alchemists for? He's a survivor of that war and he's trying to destroy the alchemists that took his home from him."

"Don't let him get away!" Roy shouted, signaling for his men to close in on the Ishvalan man.

"It seems my powers aren't enough to take you all on at once." The man grunted, glaring at Roy and slamming his open palm onto the ground.

Tremors shook the street as the road beneath the scarred man gave out and crumbled away allowing him to escape into the sewers.

"Al! Kate! Are you okay?" Ed cried, shoving himself off of the ground to run towards Kate and Al.

Al didn't say anything, neither did Kate. In fact both of them lowered their heads slightly so that their faces were partly hidden in shadow.

"Hey-"

"You idiot," Al and Kate shouted together, both raising a fist to punch Ed in the face.

Stunned and confused by the sudden attack on him Ed could only stutter uncertainly and look between his two siblings.

"Why didn't you run?" Al shouted.

"You could have gotten away you idiot," Kate snapped.

Ed blinked. "I couldn't just leave you here..."

"Stupid!" Al and Kate cried, Al punching Ed again and causing the blond to topple over onto his back.

"What's with you two?" Ed demanded, rubbing at his sore cheek childishly when he sat up to give the two a pouty glare. "He might have killed you both if I ran!"

"Or he might not have," Al countered. "How stupid do you have to be to want to die like that?"

"Don't go up to your big brother and call him stupid, stupid!"

"Don't call Al stupid," Kate yelled, smacking Ed upside the head.

"Ow! What the hell is wrong with you?" Ed shouted, glaring at Kate.

"You want to restore your bodies, right?" Kate asked seriously. "How are you supposed to do that if you get yourself killed?" Her voice was growing thick with emotion as she spoke.

"I'll say it again and again," Al spoke up, grabbing Ed by the collar of his black shirt. "You might be able to find a way to restore our bodies with alchemy. You might even be able to save a poor girl like Nina, but how can you do that if you're dead? I'll never forgive you if you give up on those possibilities and throw your life away!" At this point Al was shouting at Ed and he would have continued, but the arm he was using to hold Ed suddenly broke off and clattered to the ground. "Now look what you did? My arm came off and it's all your fault, brother, you idiot!"

Ed laughed quietly. "Look at all of us. We're all beaten up. It's kind of like old times."

"Except in old times I didn't suck this much," Kate chuckled.

"Well, I don't know-"

"Oh, shut up, runt," Kate cut in.

"Hey, who are you calling a runt, ya damn toothpick!"

"You, who else you short brat!"

Al sighed as his older siblings exchanged insults. It really was just like old times.

* * *

~A/N~

I can't believe it! FMA is over! The last chapter was so awesome though, I cried here and there. It was a good ending, I'm definitely satisfied with it, but I am sad that it's over. It just won't be the same without FMA every month though.

Review please!


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer- I do not own FullMetal Alchemist

**Chapter 28**

**A Friend's Loss**

"I've got a ton of work to do," Hughes stated, leaning into the wall by Roy's desk and looking very enamored with the ceiling.

"I can't leave HQ," Roy said with bored finality.

"I can't leave the Colonel, nothing would get done," Riza commented honestly, ignoring the sniff of disdain from Roy.

"And I have no confidence what so ever in being able to protect ya," grinned Havoc, his eyes crinkling as he smiled with no sign of embarrassment.

"Same here," chirped Fuery, Falman, and Breda from the back of the office.

Kate tweaked a brown brow as Ed's golden eyes fell on her and a hopeful look began to form on his face. "Don't look at me, Ed, I'm in no shape to protect you and I am also not going to be going back there anytime soon. I'm not an idiot, the old hag will eat me alive for leaving and making myself sick and all."

Ed's shoulder began to twitch as he slowly began to turn towards the gigantic Major Armstrong that was smiling so happily down at him. "There has to be someone but him," he grumbled.

"It's decided then," Armstrong proudly and very loudly declared, placing a head on Ed's head. "I will escort you to your home! After all your story really is so heart warming. What you did to try and bring your mother back and how you sacrificed your own limb to save your brother's soul."

Ripping himself away from the large man that was attempting to hug him, Ed sidled up to Roy who was standing beside Kate, who was sitting on his desk. "You sure do have a big mouth, Colonel," he growled.

"When someone that annoying asks you something you have no choice but to tell them whatever they want," Roy replied, looking away from Ed as the boy glared at him.

"Al, say something!" Ed protested, turning to his younger brother who was in pieces on the floor.

"I could always have you court-martialed for disobeying orders," Roy devilishly offered, grinning at a reddening Ed.

Ed was beginning to twitch quite a bit as he glared at Roy before turning to a very disinterested Kate who was trying to nonchalantly pick at her nails. "Are you going to let him do this," he shouted.

"Do what," Kate inquired innocently, looking around Roy to blink at her brother.

"He threatened me!"

"Did he?"

"Dammit, Kate," Ed shouted.

"Calm down, Ed, it could be worse," Kate sighed.

"How could it be worse," Ed demanded haughtily.

"You could be explaining to Winry how you destroyed her precious work." Kate smirked deviously as Ed paled considerably.

"You know, come to think of it," Hughes spoke up thoughtfully. "You are kind of useless without your other arm..."

"Hey that's true, isn't it," Havoc mumbled.

"Just another rotten kid," Riza stated.

"Yeah, just another annoying brat," Roy agreed.

"Hey, are you going to let him say that," Ed shouted at Kate.

"He can say whatever he likes," Kate replied aloofly, sticking a finger in her ear that Ed was yelling in. "Besides, it's pretty true."

"You're a pain in the ass, Kate! You won't even help out your brother when he asks, what the hell?"

"Hey, don't you go yelling at me for a fight you started you little runt!" Kate shot back.

"Don't call me little, dammit! At least I'm not a freaking toothpick!"

"Says who," Kate snapped. "You look like a toothpick to me you scrawny annoying brat! You should do as you're told and deal with it!"

"You're taking his side," Ed argued, shoving a finger in Roy's face. "I'm your brother!"

"And he's your superior!" She shoved her own finger in Roy's face and the black haired man shifted uncomfortably.

He had to admit though it was nice to see Kate so lively. Her cheeks were flushed a healthy red as she argued with her brother and she actually seemed to be enjoying herself.

"So what?" Ed shouted.

"What the hell are we even arguing about," Kate shouted back.

Ed blinked. "I don't really know," he chuckled, rubbing at the back of his head and smiling impishly.

"Me either," Kate laughed, grabbing a hold of Ed and hugging him as she pulled him beside her. "Sorry, little brother, but I think Roy's right this time. You need a guard and if the major says he'll do it, I would let him."

Ed frowned and was looking grumpily into his lap when he caught sight of a silver band on Kate's left ring finger. His frown deepened and his entire body stiffened. "You're engaged," he inquired quietly, his voice blank, but there were traces of anger and bitterness.

"Yes, I am. I had wanted to tell you, but there hasn't been much of a chance," Kate answered with a rueful smile as she held up her hand and splayed her fingers to see her ring.

"Congratulations," Ed offered though he sounded far from happy. Standing up, he stiffly walked away from the couch.

"You could sound a bit more enthusiastic, Ed," Kate sighed.

"Why should I? You're engaged to that bastard and I hate him! He's a pain in the ass!"

"So are you!"

"Couldn't you have chosen someone else? I mean come on, Kay, he's an ass!"

"I still love him, Ed!"

"Hey," Roy protested.

"What," the pair snapped at him.

"Never mind," he chuckled.

Ed huffed indignantly and turned away. "I'm not happy about it, but.. As long as you're happy then I guess it's okay, but if he hurts you... I'll kill him," Ed growled, a smile appearing on his face that said he would be eager to stick to his words.

"It's a deal," Kate replied, ruffling Ed's hair with a smirk.

"What," Roy protested.

"Shut up," Ed and Kate mumbled, both deadpanning and looking out the window together.

"You two are definitely related," Roy grumbled before sighing and shaking his head. "Anyways, it's settled. Major, you will accompany Ed back to Resembool and make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

"Yes, sir," the major agreed without complaint.

Ed's shoulders sagged and he began unhappily muttering to himself. Nudging him with her arm, Kate winked at him.

"Just think," she said. "When you get back to Resembool he's going to be the least of your worries."

Ed groaned and his shoulders slumped further.

"Well, now that that's settled," Hughes began sounding quite serious and business-like as he pushed himself away from the wall and adjusted his glasses.

Kate squealed when he was suddenly engulfing her in a big hug and fussing over her. "Hughes, what the hell are you doing?"

"I can't believe you two didn't tell anyone you were engaged," he pouted. "I'm so happy!" He squeezed Kate again, ignoring her protests while Ed slowly backed away and Al chuckled at the scene.

"Kate looks happy, doesn't she, brother," Al asked when Ed finally made it to his side.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ed admitted unwillingly.

"The Colonel too," Al pointed out.

Ed's brow twitched. "Yeah, so?"

Al chuckled at his older brother's stubbornness. "Do you really hate the Colonel, Ed? He's always been nice to us and he's helped us out a lot."

"That doesn't mean I have to like him." Ed sighed stubbornly while watching Roy finally go to the aid of Kate who was beginning to turn a bright shade of red since Hughes was refusing to let her go and was practically strangling her. He frowned as he noticed how gentle he was with Kate, how his eyes softened when he smiled at her and how hers did the same.

He was happy for Kate, he honestly was, but there was something bothering him about a look he had seen in the man's eyes earlier. It was the look of a man that knew he would never be good enough or would never be able to give her what she deserved.

"Something isn't right," he absently muttered.

"What do you mean," Al questioned worriedly.

Ed frowned and shook his head. "It's nothing, I'm just tired."

Knowing his brother better than to believe it was nothing Al inwardly frowned and looked back at Kate. She was smiling as everyone offered their congratulations to her and Roy, who was behind her with a smile on his face as well. For a second he thought there was something lacking in the smile, but it was gone before he could pinpoint it so he figured he was just imagining things.

* * *

Arm looped through Hughes's, Kate walked alongside the man and towards the window of the train her brother had sat down beside.

"Where's Al," she asked, not seeing the armor that was her youngest brother.

Ed flinched and hung his head. "He's in a box with the luggage."

"He's what?" Kate squeaked.

"Not to worry, to ensure he didn't get lonely I had him placed with a herd of sheep that is also being transported," Major Armstrong informed her.

"Poor Al," Kate and Ed muttered together, both of them hanging their heads at the thought of their little brother being treated as luggage and having to ride with a herd of sheep.

After a brief conversation, she and Hughes stepped away from the train as it began to rumble out of the station. Kate waved to her brother and managed to keep a smile on her face until he was out of sight.

"Hughes," Kate whispered quietly.

Looking at Kate, the tall man didn't fail to see the tears that were beginning to slip down her pale cheeks while she ducked her head down and let her thick hair cascade over her shoulders as they began to shake. With a soft sigh, he put a hand on Kate's head and pulled her to him so she could weep quietly into his shoulder.

"It must be pretty hard to see them go again after finally seeing them again," he said absently. "Come on, lets get you home to your loving fiance," Hughes suggested, putting an arm around Kate's shoulders and holding her close as they walked to the waiting car that would take them back to HQ.

"Do the boys know," Kate asked, wiping her eyes dry and sniffling as they both sat down in the back of the car.

"Know what," Hughes asked, having no idea what the puffy faced girl meant.

She took a shaky breath and looked out the car window. "Do they know about what Roy's doing? How he's trying to become Fuhrer."

"I would assume so, Roy's not exactly subtle about it," he chuckled. The chuckle dissipated in his throat when Kate showed no sign of caring as she stared so intently outside of the window.

"When I was hugging Ed goodbye I saw Roy and I together, there was something in Roy's eyes that Ed saw and didn't like. That he didn't understand."

"I don't think I'm following..."

Kate looked back Hughes, her eyes so much more empty then they once had been. "It didn't register at first, I was still in shock from being found and returning to my own normal life.. I didn't realize how odd it is for Roy to want to get married."

"I still don't think I understand. Why would that be odd, I mean I know it's Roy we're talking about and he's not so good at the whole commitment thing, but-"

"It's not the commitment I'm talking about," Kate cut in. "It's what his goals ultimately require him to do."

Hughes frowned and sighed heavily, tilting his head back enough that his glasses cast a reflection that made his eyes hard to see clearly. "I think I understand what you're talking about now. After what happened in Ishbal, Roy wanted to become Fuhrer so that he could protect people and rebuild Amestris. The war was hard on him, it was hard on everyone. We all saw it for what it was, a massacre, but no one could do anything about it."

"He wants to change the way things are done and he wants those that took part in the massacre to pay for their crimes, doesn't he?"

Hughes offered a somber nod.

"That would mean he would be naming himself a criminal as well, wouldn't it?"

With a sigh, he nodded again. "Ultimately, yes it would."

Kate frowned and went back to looking out of the window. "I won't let that happen," she murmured.

Hughes stared at the young woman, studying her as she gazed with blank eyes out of the car. She had changed a lot in the years she had been gone. Not that that was a surprise, but there was now very little left of the joyful, energetic and stubborn girl that she had once been. She seemed lost and lonely, her eyes didn't sparkle or shine, they were dull and lackluster now. Except he thought that upon further inspection that he was wrong, that hidden in her bright eyes was a fiery strength and determination. With a soft smirk, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, Kate might just end up proving to be more of force to be reckoned with than her young brothers.

* * *

"You're going to Central," Roy inquired in surprise, holding the receiver of the phone on his desk to his ear.

"Yes, I called to check in with Winry and Pinako and give them an update about how I'm doing. Winry mentioned a phone call she just got from Ed asking her to go to Central to fix his arm. If he's not going to her then I'm inclined to believe that-"

"The little runt got himself into some kind of trouble," Roy finished with a sigh.

"Exactly," Kate chuckled.

"You're going to go whether I agree or not, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

With a dejected sigh, Roy rubbed at his eyes and shook his head. He didn't like the idea of Kate traveling again only a few weeks after she had made herself sick by pushing herself too hard and coming to East City. He knew she was doing much better now and that she was able to exercise and move around without much problem, as long as she did so in intervals anyway.

"I'll give Hughes a call. I don't want you wandering around Central on your own and you shouldn't be staying by yourself in an inn. I doubt that he and Gracia would mind a guest."

"Thank you, Roy. I'm going to start packing. There's a train leaving for Central in two hours. If I make that one I'll be in Central by six."

"You're leaving today?" Roy asked, clearly surprised and a bit dismayed by the news.

Kate chuckled, a somewhat sad sound. "Yeah, I know it's soon, but.. you've been so busy at work and it's kind of lonely in your apartment by myself so..."

He understood what she meant, he had been so busy trying to catch the man with the scar on his face that he had hardly seen Kate. They hadn't been able to spend much time together and he knew that it was hard for her to be cooped up on her own as much as she was. She could only do so much to keep herself occupied which included exercising almost constantly just so she wouldn't have to sit idly by, something she wasn't too good at.

"I'll call Hughes and let him know, he should be able to pick you up or arrange to have someone meet you at the train station. I can't leave, but I'll have Hawkeye have someone pick you up and take you to the train station," Roy told her, his voice heavy with guilt.

"It's alright, Roy," Kate said, a smile in her tone. "I know you're busy and I know your work is important to you, I also know that this man needs to be found. I understand why you're not glued to my side like I know you'd like to be, even if just to fuss like a mother hen, and it's alright."

Roy smiled softly, glad that his back was to the numerous people working diligently behind him. "Call me if you need anything, alright?"

"Of course," she agreed. "In the meantime, Roy, catch this Scar guy so we can go out on a proper date when I get back."

"You got it."

* * *

"Hughes, please put me down," Kate protested.

Her feet were currently several inches off of the ground and she was being spun around nauseatingly while being crushed in a bear hug by the enthusiastic black haired man.

"Sorry," he chuckled, setting her down on her own two feet. "I'm just so happy to see you and you're finally going to get to meet my little girl! Tomorrow's her birthday, you know. We're having a party for her and everything."

"Sounds like fun," Kate replied, his enthusiasm beginning to wear off on her.

"Well, lets get going, we're late for dinner. You'll love Gracia's cooking, she's amazing!" Hughes gushed.

* * *

The following morning Kate was walking down a well lit hospital corridor on her way to Ed's room and rolled her eyes as she neared his room. From where she was she could hear him shouting about not wanting to drink 'white juice from a cow'. In other words milk. He had never liked the beverage and had always refused to drink it unless forced to, usually by her.

"Edward Elric," she chided, pushing the door open to his room and fixing her bandaged brother with a look that silenced him quickly and caused him to freeze like a deer caught in headlights. "You are in a hospital you big brat, now stop shouting and drink your damned milk." A dangerous smirk found its way to her face and she folded her arms over her chest. "Unless of course you'd like me to force you?"

Ed stiffened, grimacing at the thought of what Kate would do to him if he didn't listen to her. Eying the bottle of white liquid, his nose crinkled in disgust and he glanced back at Kate who was still standing in the doorway watching him with a challenging look. Grumbling, he turned back to the milk and gulped. He really hated that stuff, it was disgusting in his opinion.

"You won't get any bigger, you tiny little flea sized monkey," Kate grinned deviously when Ed glared at her and snickers of amusement rippled through the room. "If you don't drink your milk," she finished.

"I hate you, Kate," muttered Ed sourly, his golden eyes once again staring down the bottle of milk. With a dejected sigh, he picked up the milk and slowly brought it towards his mouth. He shuddered as the glass touched his lips but after taking a big breath, he downed the entire container in one go. Slamming the empty container on the tray settled over his lap, he smiled proudly to himself.

"Wow, I don't know who you are, but that was amazing," a black haired woman told her, stepping up to her to shake her hand. "The brat won't listen to anyone."

"I'm Kate, the brat's sister," Kate replied, shaking the woman's hand.

"Second Lieutenant Maria Ross," the woman told her. "This is Sargent Denny Brosh. We were both assigned to look out for your brothers while they're here in Central."

"Well, thank you for your hard work," Kate chuckled, shaking hands with the young man that was grinning at her beside Maria.

"It's no problem," the young Sargent answered sheepishly with a blush.

"Ms. Elric," Major Armstrong greeted politely. "It's a pleasure to see again. With you around perhaps these two will be better behaved."

She chuckled again. "I doubt it, but you never know. Miracles do happen. Al?"

Her youngest brother that had been sitting against the wall opposite Ed had stood up and was walking past her out of the room. Not able to actually see an expression on his face that was a metal helmet, she wasn't sure what to think.

"I'm going outside for a little while," Al muttered as he passed her.

"But-"

"Let him go, Kate," Ed spoke up. "Something's been bothering him and I think he just needs time to think things through on his own.

She frowned, but nodded and fully stepped into the room to take a seat that Armstrong had moved beside the bed for her. "Thank you, the walk was pretty easy, but I could use a rest that's for sure."

"After I fix Ed up I'll take a look at your leg, Kay. Is that alright," Winry asked, she was going through a medical like bag she had brought with her and that was eliciting metal clinking sounds.

"That's fine, Winry," Kate replied. "So what did you do to yourself, Ed? All I was told was that you went snooping around and got yourself in trouble."

Ed's face darkened and he cast a discrete glance at Winry. "It was nothing," he said, giving her a look that tell her more later when they were alone.

She gave him a nod and made herself comfortable as Winry set to work on Ed's arm.

"So what's bothering Al, Ed?" Winry innocently inquired.

"I don't know, he's just been quiet lately. Like I said I think he's thinking about something." He winced as Winry adjusted something in his arm.

"Maybe he's got a serious crush on someone who isn't returning his affections," Sargent Brosh suggested.

"Don't go confusing my little brother with a certain perverted, horny Colonel," Ed grumbled childishly.

"Hey," Kate protested. "Don't go talking about my fiance like that!"

"Your fiance," Maria and Denny both asked, looking quite confused by her statement.

"She's engaged to Colonel Roy Mustang," Armstrong informed the two since Kate and Ed were now busy having a shouting match between themselves and were tuning everyone else out. "She was once his subordinate and I'm sure you've heard about the young girl that went missing and was used as material for human transmutation, but managed to survive."

"That was her," Maria Ross asked, shocked to hear about who the pretty young woman was. The story of the woman that had been snatched out of East City's train station only to be found several years later was well known in Central. "I had no idea.."

"She's been through a lot, but she's still smiling. I guess that their family must be pretty strong willed, even those boys are able to keep smiling despite everything they've been through over the past few days," Denny said.

The door to the hospital room crashed open and everyone turned to see who was barging so shamelessly in.

"Hey there, Ed, I hear you're seducing a girl in here," Colonel Hughes declared loudly. "Good for you!"

Kate snorted when she choked on her own laughter upon seeing Ed turn a very deep shade of red and somehow managing to fall off of his bed and onto the floor.

The red faced boy stuttered and spluttered for a moment before shouting angrily at Hughes. "She's my automail mechanic!"

"So you're seducing a mechanic?" Hughes asked, putting a hand to his chin and winking at Ed.

Twitching, Ed began to mutter to himself in his frustration while a very confused looking Winry was left to blink at Hughes without any idea of who he was and just what was going on.

Since no one else seemed able to speak, Kate shook her head and spoke up. "Winry, this is Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes."

"Pleasure to meet you, young lady," Hughes added on his own, shaking her hand politely in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Winry Rockbell."

"So what are you doing here," Ed rudely asked.

"I had the day off and since I was free I thought I'd stop by to see you and make sure Kate found her way here okay from my place," Hughes answered.

"You're staying at his place," Ed asked, looking utterly appalled by this news.

"I have news for you about Scar," Hughes told them.

Both Ed and Kate quieted and become sober, Kate sitting back in her chair and staring out the window while Ed stared down at his bed.

"Seems like you aren't going to need the service of your escorts much longer," Hughes continued.

"Well that's a relief," Ed mumbled. "They're annoying."

"Hey, that's mean," Denny whined.

"Escorts," Winry asked, obviously not knowing what was being discussed around her. "Why did you need escorts?"

"It's nothing," Ed said dismissively. "Don't worry about it."

"You never tell me anything," complained Winry. "You guys don't have to do everything on your own, you know!"

"Where are you staying, Winry," Kate asked, trying to change the subject since Ed looked far from inclined to talk about it any further.

"I was going to find an inn when I was done here," she answered with a displeased pout.

"You could stay at a military inn pretty cheap if you mention my name," Ed suggested.

"That sounds too stiff," Winry commented uncertainly.

"In that case," Hughes began. "Why don't you come and stay at my place. You can share a room with Kate."

"Well I wouldn't want to intrude," Winry started to say humbly.

"It would be no problem," Hughes informed her much more happily than she had expected as he engulfed her in one of his infamous bear hugs. "My wife and I would love to have you! Besides it's my little girl's birthday today, the more the merrier, right?"

"Um, well..." Winry didn't seem too certain about agreeing, but she had little choice when Hughes excitedly began to ramble about his beloved wife and daughter as he dragged her towards the door, her mechanic bag that she had just repacked held tightly in her hands.

"Aren't you coming, Kate," called Hughes, his head appearing in the doorway.

"Yeah, I'm coming," she answered, slowly standing from her seat. "We'll talk later, Ed. Tell Al I love him and I'll see the both of you in the morning."

"Bye, Kate," he said, waving lazily at her as she made her way into the hall and out of sight.

* * *

"She's worried about your brothers," Hughes told Kate as he sat down beside her on his couch. "She thinks that if she were their real sister that they might actually tell her what's going on and what they've been doing."

The apartment was quiet now that all of the children had left and Gracia had put Elicia to bed awhile before. Winry was in bed as well, tired from her long day on the train and all the excitement provided by the children she had been playing with. Gracia was still cleaning up, but refused the help of Kate and had told her husband to keep her company.

"I doubt that," Kate sighed. "They're stubborn and they have never liked to rely on someone else to do anything for them, they also don't want to burden someone else with their problems. They're strong boys and stubborn, more so than is probably healthy."

"Stubbornness runs in the family," Hughes chuckled.

"It certainly does," Kate agreed with a smile.

"How's Roy been, he's always so busy when I call anymore that we hardly talk."

"It's the same for me," she replied with a sad sigh. "He's been so caught up in the Scar case I've hardly seen him in the past few weeks. It's not all bad though, just being able to be close to him again and knowing he isn't far is reassuring and comforting."

"And the wedding," Hughes asked, trying to sound indifferent, but failing.

"We haven't started planning yet. I want to be fully healed and I want him to be able to have gotten a little closer to his goal."

"Don't wait too long, I don't want to be an old man and Elicia is still young and would make such a perfectly adorable flower girl, don't you think?"

Kate laughed at the loving look in Hughes's eyes and the hearts she could swear were spinning around his head. "She certainly would be an adorable flower girl." Her laughter only grew when an ecstatic Hughes gathered her up in a happy hug while he twittered on and on about how very cute his daughter was.

"Goodness, Maes," Gracia scolded teasingly, appearing in the doorway between the dining room and the living room. "You're so loud, you'll wake the girls."

"Sorry, sorry," the man apologized, releasing Kate and attempting to look like a proper well behaved gentleman.

"You must be tired, Kate," Gracia said. "You don't have to listen to this big kid and all of his blabbering if you don't want to."

"It's alright, the company is much appreciated. It's been awhile since I've had a conversation this normal, it's nice."

"You're a good kid, you know that," Hughes told her, placing a hand on her head and smiling at her. "I'm so proud of you."

"You're such a dork," Kate muttered, brushing his hand from her head and rolling her eyes playfully.

* * *

The following morning Kate, Winry and Hughes arrived at the hospital with Sargent Brosch and Lieutenant Ross just in time to walk in to hear Al yelling at Ed.

He was clearly upset as he stood over Ed, but it was impossible to read any emotion considering that his body was not human.

"I didn't want this body! I didn't ask for this!" Al shouted, his voice full of emotion.

Kate pushed past everyone so that she could be closest to her brothers. "Al, what's-"

"Everything is all messed up because of me," Ed said wearily. "It's all my fault, but I promise, Al, I will restore your body. I-"

"And what proof is there that you will?" Al demanded. "In alchemy the body of a human being is made of the flesh, the soul and the mind, but not a single person has ever proven that! If you think about it logically all memory is just a string of information, so it should be possible to create a false one and implant it, right?"

"What are you saying," Ed asked haltingly as he stared at his brother.

"I'm saying-"

"That's enough, Al," Kate shouted, her hands shaking at her sides as tears filled her golden eyes and slid down her pale cheeks. She already had an idea of what the young boy was thinking and she didn't want to hear it, didn't want to hear him say that he thought everything he knew was just a lie.

"No, I want to know the truth. Ed, you said you wanted to tell me something," Al pushed on. "Was it that my soul and memories are all fake?"

"Kate," Al whispered guiltily, suddenly feeling all of his anger melt away when he looked over at Kate who was trying to hide behind her dark hair to hide the tears streaming down her face.

Ed slammed his hands down on the tray table in front of himself, slopping milk all over it. "So this is what you've been hiding, huh? Is that all you had wanted to say?"

Al hesitated as his older brother stood up and strode out of the room without another word.

"Ed," Winry called after the departing boy. "What's wrong with you?" She yelled, turning on Al and pulling a wrench from her bag to bash him in the head with.

Al cried out in surprise and tried to protect himself from the several more blows she threw at him. "W-Winry, stop!"

"How could you, Al? How could you say that," Winry asked, falling to the floor as her shoulders shook and tears fell from her eyes.

With a shake of her head, Kate turned away from her brother and Winry to search for Ed.

"Kay," Al mumbled as she left the room without even looking at him.

"Look what you did!" Winry chastised, wiping at her eyes and clunking him in the chest with her wrench. "How could you say that, Al? Ed only wanted to know if you blamed him for what happened to your body, that was it. And to say that in front of Kate... She's missed you so much... How could you do that to her?" She trailed off to start sobbing gently.

"I- I didn't-"

"Oh, shut up you idiot," Winry interrupted. "And go apologize to your brother and sister."

"Um," he hesitated, not wanting to leave Winry crying on the floor and not so sure he was ready to face his siblings yet.

"Now," Winry ordered.

"Y-yes, ma'am," he squeaked, scrambling out of the door in search of Ed and Kate.

Al found his brother and sister on the roof, Ed staring out over Central City while Kate sat and stared up into the sky. Her cheeks where red and damp from the tears that were still falling from her eyes. She looked over at Al as he walked up to her.

"I'm sorry, Kay. I didn't mean to hurt you. It was just something someone said and I guess I let it get to me, I know brother would never create a fake soul and I know you would never lie to me like that."

Kate wiped at her eyes and looked away. "You shouldn't be apologizing to me, Al. You should be apologizing to him," she said, inclining her head towards Ed.

"Are you going to be alright," Al asked, ashamed of himself for making Kate cry.

"I'll be fine, Al. You were upset and I'm sure it can't be easy living in that armor. I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone put the thought in your head that you weren't a real person. Now go talk to your brother," she sniffled.

"Ok."

There was less talking at first as Ed used this opportunity to spar with his brother, and win for the first time ever since he had caught Al off guard. Apologies were eventually exchanged though before Kate and Al helped Ed back to his room, both chiding him for being careless and irritating his wounds by sparring with Al.

With the situation resolved now, everything returned to normal and Winry finished all repairs on Ed's arm. She had checked over Kate's leg the night before and had made a few minor adjustments that she checked over once again before packing up all of her tools.

Being that it was now early evening and the hospital visiting hours were over, Kate and Winry were driven back to the Hughes household for the night. They stopped on the way to pick up train tickets that Ed had asked Kate to buy for them, they wanted to go to Dublith to see Izumi and ask her what she knew about human transmutation. They would be leaving in two days since Ed was scheduled to be released from the hospital then.

Since Hughes himself had had to go back to work that day, Winry and Kate helped Gracia clean the house and prepare dinner while taking turns playing with the three year old Elicia. It was some of the most innocent fun Kate had had in such a long time that she didn't realize how much a good laugh could really brighten the entire world. She felt so light and free as she chased Elicia around the apartment, her happy giggles echoing through the entire place. By the time she went to bed that night she couldn't keep the smile from her face and her eyes had begun to shine more than they had in a long time.

She had no idea as she fell into a peaceful sleep that everything was about to change.

* * *

Kate waved to Ed, Al and Winry who were all sitting together on a train headed for Rush Valley, which was supposed to be well known for the automail produced by a number of skilled mechanics there. Winry had managed to con Ed into agreeing to take her since she had come all the way from Resemebool to fix his arm and since he was originally headed for Dublith, which was along the way, he had a hard time of denying her.

The last two days had been spent enjoying the company of her brothers while beginning to fully see that they were no longer the children she remembered them to be. They had grown so much, not because of time, but because they had had no choice. In order to restore their bodies after they had so foolishly tried to revive their mother they had had no choice but to stand tall and proud and walk forward without fear or hesitation.

She felt like a failure as a sister, she hadn't been there to protect them, to look after them or offer any support she could and it hurt her to know that she was probably no longer a necessary part of their lives.

Her smile faded as she watched the train disappear into the distance and there was no longer any reason to keep the smile on her face. All she wanted was to be able to protect them and to help them on their journey to finding the answer to repairing their bodies, but she didn't know how she could do that when she wouldn't always be able to go where they went or know what they did. She wasn't a part of the military, she was just a simple civilian and it left her with a feeling of being worthless. A feeling she severely disliked and want to change.

Since they had taken the evening train the sun was beginning to go down and the sky was quickly darkening, casting long shadows beneath the trees that she walked under as she slowly made her way back to the Hughes's cozy home.

Gracia had already put Elicia to bed when she arrived and there was a bowl of hot soup waiting for her on the dining table.

"You really didn't have to do that, Gracia," Kate told the kind woman as she sat down to eat her soup.

"It's cold outside, this will warm you up and it's no problem, Kate, so don't worry about it." The woman smiled at Kate and Kate couldn't help but smile back.

"Thank you. It's delicious," Kate said honestly, appreciatively after swallowing a spoon of the warm broth and feeling it warm her up instantly.

"I'm glad you think so," Gracia laughed. "I wonder who that could be," she said as a knock on the door echoed through the quiet apartment.

Being that it was rather late, Kate followed along behind Gracia as the woman went to her door and pulled it open to reveal a young, pale military officer with well kept reddish brown hair and bright green eyes. He looked nervous despite how he was holding himself with all the stiff grace of a soldier.

A sense of unease washed over her and when the soldier began to speak all she could do was stare at him.

Her eyes were wide as she blinked in disbelief at the downcast face of the military officer in front of she and Gracia. She wiped at her eyes when she realized that her vision had grown blurry and wasn't surprised by the wetness that she found.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Hughes," the man said, clearly uncomfortable with the situation as he fidgeted.

"Thank you," the new found widow replied softly, trying to offer an encouraging smile despite the tears that had begun to leak from her eyes.

The officer gave a sloppy salute before leaving the two women standing in the doorway of the Hughes' home, both still in a state of shock over the news that Maes Hughes had been killed while on duty and proudly serving his country.

"Can I do anything for you, Gracia," Kate asked, not knowing what else to do or say as they both retreated back into the apartment.

"No, I'm alright. Thank you," the woman replied.

Kate knew she was far from alright, but she also knew that the woman needed to be strong for her daughter who came jogging into the living room having heard the door close and expecting to see her father returning from work.

"Mama, what's wrong? Why are you crying," the young girl asked, concerned about the tears in the eyes of her mother and Kate.

"I should leave, you probably want to be alone," Kate said quietly, turning to retrieve her things from the spare bedroom she had been given to sleep in while in Central.

"You're leaving?" Elicia asked, tears forming in her little eyes.

"You should stay, Kate. Maes was very fond of you and he would be worried about you if you left by yourself."

"Are you sure," she asked hesitantly. "I don't want to intrude..."

"I'm sure, Kate. I would be happy to have you stay as our guest. I know Maes would have it no other way."

Kate nodded slowly. "I should call Roy," she said absently, following Gracia's eyes as the woman looked sadly at her young daughter who was still too young to fully understand what she was about to hear. "Excuse me," she whispered, her voice thick and her eyes clouding with tears again as she made her way to the telephone in the hall.

She knew she wouldn't be able to call the HQ in East City to speak to Roy since she wasn't calling from a secured line, but she had to try. She didn't know what else to do and wasn't surprised when she was regretfully informed that she couldn't be connected without the proper authorization. She had thanked the operator and hung the phone up just as Elicia began to sob in the living room at the news that her father wasn't going to be coming home that night.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Kate's hand tightened on the phone receiver as more salty tears began to slip from her eyes and down her cheeks. Not wanting to alarm Gracia who had to be strong for her daughter and for the husband that wouldn't have wanted her to grieve over his death, Kate silently cried in the hall, her heart aching more with each sob that Elicia cried. She couldn't even imagine what Gracia had to have been going through at that moment while she tried to comfort her daughter and not knowing what else to do, Kate picked the phone back up and tried to reach Roy at home. Given that it was nearly ten o'clock at night she hoped that he might be there.

She wasn't sure if he had been given the news of his best friend's death yet or not and she didn't want to be the one to tell him, but at that moment she wanted nothing more than to hear his voice.

The phone was picked up on the first ring and an eager, concerned voice greeted her. "Hello?"

Hearing his voice filled her with relief but at the same time it filled her with an immense sadness. "R-Roy," her voice broke when a sob broke free of her throat.

"Kate," he asked in surprise. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Roy... It's Hughes," she managed to say despite how thick her voice was becoming and how cloudy her vision grew now that her tears were beginning to fall faster.

"Hughes? What do you mean?" He pressed worriedly.

Just then there was a loud knock in the background and Kate knew that the person who was knocking on Roy's door was there to tell him about the death of his friend.

There was a silence on the other end of the phone as an understanding filled Roy with dread as he stared at the door while still holding the phone to his ear. He could hear Kate's sobs that she was trying to hold back and in the background he could hear the daughter of his best friend crying.

"Where's Hughes," Roy asked, not wanting to answer the door to hear the words he knew were coming.

"He.. He's dead, Roy." She heard Roy take a sharp breath in and had no idea what she should say, how to comfort him when she was so far from his side.

"How," Roy asked, his voice serious and controlled, but Kate could hear the tremor in it. "How did he die?"

"I don't know. All they would tell us was that he was killed in action. They wouldn't give us details, but you could probably find out more... You should answer your door, Roy," Kate said, wiping at her eyes and hearing a louder, more urgent knock issue from the background of Roy's apartment.

"Yeah," the man sighed blankly. "I guess I should... I'll talk to you soon, Kate."

"Yeah, talk to you soon," Kate echoed. "I love you, Roy."

"I love you too, Kate. Take care of Gracia and Elicia."

"I will... Bye," she murmured, replacing the handset and drying her eyes as best she could before going back to the living room to see if she could be of any help to Gracia.

* * *

~A/N~

...So... Sorry about the long wait... Really, really sorry... I know this isn't my best work ever, but at least I got a nice long chapter up. I've already started the next chapter and have a few ideas on how to continue with the story, something that I was lacking for awhile there so hopefully there won't be another almost year long wait.

Pretty please review!


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer- I don't own FullMetal Alchemist

**Chapter 29**

**The Blooming Rose **

It was frustrating how little they would tell Kate and Gracia about what happened to Maes Hughes and Kate found it difficult to remain calm when people she knew were acquainted with Roy and who knew who she was to him still refused to tell her anything because she wasn't a part of the military. These reminders were not meant to be harsh and she knew that, but they angered her and made her feel like she was helpless and powerless.

She began to realize just how much of a fool she had been when she had first met Roy, she had wanted to help him, to assist him in his climb to the top. But how was she supposed to do that as nothing but a secretary? She had already seen that as a secretary there were going to be many times when she was going to have to be excluded from things and the higher Roy rose the more she was likely to be excluded since she was not enlisted in the military.

She had agreed to protect those that couldn't protect themselves when she had started working for Roy, she had no problem doing that, but she didn't see how someone with no power could actually help the people of Amestris. She could protect them all she wanted, but she didn't see what it would matter if she never knew what was going on and wouldn't be able to actually reach anyone from an outside line to call for help. She was nothing in the grand scheme of things, unimportant, and she would remain that way unless she decided otherwise.

Golden eyes stared straight ahead calmly, taking in the incredibly intimidating sight of Central Command. The walled in compound was enormous and as she strolled towards the stately building that housed not only the military headquarters of Amestris, but also the Fuhrer and his family since this was their actual residence she had to wonder how often people got lost inside. Her heart was fluttering in her chest and her palms were beginning to sweat with each step she took towards Central Command.

When she reached the steps that led up to the building, she stopped for a moment and stared up at the gold and green crest that was so prominently displayed above the set of several doors that would lead into the main lobby.

"Well," she sighed under her breath, letting out a long, slow rush of air to calm her nerves. "Here we go."

Ascending the stairs with even, controlled steps Kate walked through the doors and into the spacious, sparkling clean lobby. Chatter filled the air and footsteps clicked against the tile floors as she headed straight to the main desk in the center of the room. A young man with dark brown hair and brown eyes sat behind the desk. He looked up as Kate stepped up to the desk, taking a deep breath and raising her head high and proud.

* * *

The day was clear, the sky was bright and blue with only a few fluffy white clouds that lazily floated along overhead. A cool breeze rustled the green grass, making it ripple and sway like ocean waves. A chill worked its way up Kate's spine as the door to the car that she, Gracia and Elicia had shared opened so that they could step out and into the cemetery where Hughes was to be buried that morning.

Several soldiers had already arrived and stood in lines quietly, their downcast eyes glancing at Gracia and Elicia as the two stepped out of the car first. Kate followed after them after a brief hesitation. When she stepped out of the car her black boots clicked lightly on the ground. Standing up straight, she smoothed her black wool peacoat with her black gloved hands and adjusted it before finally looking up and into the cemetery. Her gold eyes scanned the crowd already gathered and she fidgeted nervously. Following after Gracia and Elicia, her eyes still scanning the crowd, Kate wondered if Roy had already arrived.

When she saw a familiar blond woman standing beside a rigid black haired man she faltered in her steps and when Gracia turned back to her and called her name, she sucked in a shaky breath.

Roy had heard Kate's name and had turned to see where the woman he hadn't seen in days was. He couldn't very well comfort her or even show her any kind of affection given that the function was a military one and it wouldn't have been appropriate. When his eyes met Kate's he tried to offer her a smile, but had a hard time of it. Kate managed a wan smile of her own and lifted her hand to timidly offer a small wave. When the smile faded, she looked down before continuing after Gracia and Elicia. Elicia was lifting one of her small hands towards Kate as she neared them.

She took the hand and gave it a light squeeze. Elicia's other hand was in her mother's and when Kate looked up at the woman, she could see the tears threatening to pour from her eyes. Looking away, Kate silently walked with the two to the open grave of Maes Hughes. They took up position in front of the crowd, opposite the military personnel that had turned out to honor their fallen comrade.

* * *

Kate had kept her distance from Roy during the funeral ceremony, not only would it not have been appropriate to go to him, she wasn't sure what to say to him. After helping Gracia and Elicia into a car and assuring them that she would see them later that day, she had turned to see Roy standing over the grave of Maes Hughes by himself. Taking a deep, uncertain breath she slowly walked to him and stepped up beside him. She kept her eyes on the polished stone that bore Hughes's name, just as Roy did as she stepped up to him.

Not knowing what to say she remained silent beside him. For several moments they both simply stood there, side by side, staring at the stone of a man that had been very well loved by everyone who had known him. Hearing footsteps on the grass behind them, Kate looked over her shoulder to smile as best she could despite the situation at Hawkeye.

Hawkeye offered a weak smile of her own. "Colonel, we should be going. It's getting a bit cold and we're expected at Central Command."

"Yeah, we should go," Roy agreed quietly before continuing on almost absently. "Alchemists really are horrible people, First Lieutenant. Right now.. a part of me wants to develop a theory on human transmutation. I can understand now why those boys did what they did."

Kate unintentionally flinched at the mention of her brothers and their attempt to bring their mother back to life using alchemy. The movement caused a soft tinkling sound to emit from beneath her coat. A noise that she hoped Roy hadn't noticed.

"Are you alright, Colonel?" Hawkeye asked, sensing that the man she had served for years was not himself and seeing the hurt in Kate's eyes that she knew he would never have put there intentionally.

"I'm fine." He put his cap that he had been holding by his side back onto his and adjusted the brim of it with more care than was necessary as his eyes were cast into shadow. "..Oh, no. It's raining."

"It's not..." Riza trailed off, she was going to correct him, but upon seeing the tear that slid down his cheek understood what he had wanted. He didn't want anyone to judge him for shedding tears over the death of his friend, he was a soldier and it would have been a sign of weakness.

Kate discreetly took his hand in hers and gave it a loving squeeze. He returned the gesture, wrapping his fingers around her gloved hand and briefly tightening them.

"I'm sorry for what I said," he told her quietly, eyes still on the stone in front of them. "I saw you flinch, I wasn't thinking about what I was saying."

She squeezed his hand once more before letting it go. "It's alright."

Finally turning to look her over in her black slacks and black coat, Roy sighed and cast a quick look around. There were still several people milling around the cemetery and as badly as he wanted to hold Kate, to comfort her because not only did he think that she needed, but he certainly could have used the contact as well.

"It's alright," Kate said quietly, knowing why Roy was looking around. Sniffling, she let her eyes stare down at the ground. She had been trying not to cry all morning, it wasn't that easy. Tears had been flowing from her eyes almost constantly, but she had managed to keep herself from full on crying.

Roy looked Kate over, she looked tired and worn. He had also noticed that she had been trying to avoid direct eye contact as much as possible. He frowned at her, but figured that the past several days had been hard on her.

"I'm going to Central to do some of my own research on Hughes's murder. Would you like a ride back to the Hughes's apartment?" Roy asked.

Kate bit at her lip and shook her head.

"It's a long walk, Kate," Roy pointed out uncertainly.

"I would like to go with you... To Central Command." Her eyes were still on the ground as she spoke.

He seemed unsure of Kate's words and the lack of eye contact. He had the feeling that she was hiding something from him. "What's going on, Kate?"

She chewed on her lips for a few seconds before pulling her hands from her pockets. There was a bulky object in one of her hands now. She looked down at her fist for several moments before meeting Roy's eyes and opening her palm.

Sliding his eyes from Kate's to the glimmering object in her hand, Roy's eyes widened and he blinked at the silver pocket watch she was holding. "Please tell me that's your brother's and he just happened to leave it on accident."

She shook her head. "It's mine, Roy. You should be getting the paperwork when you return to East City. I'll be under your command. It was one of the stipulations of me agreeing to be a State Alchemist."

Despite not being happy about her new job choice, Roy couldn't help but be curious about what she meant about having agreed to be a State Alchemist. Usually interested alchemists would take the exam because they wanted to be a State Alchemist, that meant they had already agreed to being a certified alchemist beforehand. "What do you mean one of the stipulations? Since we're engaged you shouldn't be allowed to work under me."

She fidgeted uncomfortably. "Knowing about Scar and what he's been doing, I know that the number of Alchemists is fairly low. Which means they could use more skilled alchemists. So I refused to become a State Alchemist unless they would allow me to work under you. Given how skilled I was the Fuhrer himself agreed."

There were a few seconds of silence before Roy reached for the pocket watch in Kate's hand and picked it up to get a closer look. There was little point in telling her he wasn't happy with her decision to became tied to the state without even consulting him. Nothing he could do or say was going to change the fact that she was a certified State Alchemist.

"State Alchemist, huh?" He said with a sigh, still studying the silver watch.

"Major Kate Elric reporting for duty, sir," she replied, a weak smile on her face while she offered a quick, neat salute.

"Well, Major, lets get going. We have work to do," Roy said, adjusting his cap and striding off towards the last waiting car. "Oh, and..." He paused in his stroll to turn back towards Kate, a dark glint in his eyes. "You will have a lot of explaining to do once we get back to East Headquarters, got it?"

She chuckled pathetically, but nodded at Roy to say she understood. "Yes, sir," she mumbled, following after her fiance and now superior officer.

Hawkeye shook her head at the couple, a soft smile on her face as she walked alongside Kate to the car that was waiting for them.

* * *

"Blooming Rose?" Roy asked, sounding like he was trying not to laugh while he glanced out of the car window.

Kate's eyebrow twitched. "Yes, my second name is the Blooming Rose Alchemist."

"It's nice," Roy said, trying not to laugh as he raised the sheet of paper that proclaimed Kate to be a State Alchemist so it would hide the smirk on his face.

"It may not be very intimidating, oh great _Flame_ Alchemist, but all roses have thorns of some kind," Kate snapped impatiently.

"How did you get the name Blooming Rose?" He asked, figuring a change of subject was wise before Kate attempted to hurt him.

Kate sighed and shrugged. "Organic alchemy has always been easy for me. Don't know why, just like I didn't know why I could just clap my hands to create an alchemical circle... It could also have something to do with how I attacked the Fuhrer.."

"You attacked the Fuhrer?" Roy asked after a moment's pause. He sounded rather amused.

Kate wiggled in her seat and it was her turn to look out of the car window. "Yes, after I trapped all of the examiners in vines of rose bushes created out of the marble, not organic exactly, but you get the idea. He was far more amused than anything else. Said something about my brother and about how small the world was or something."

Roy chuckled. "That's because your brother attacked him too. Ran at him with nothing but a spear and told the Fuhrer to rethink how the examinations are held."

With a snort, she shook her head. "Yeah, I may have said something like that too..."

"You and Ed really are so much alike," Roy observed with a small smile. Folding the sheet of paper she had handed him and placing it back in a crisp envelope, he handed it back to Kate. "What made you become a State Alchemist, Kate?"

"I.. I made a promise," she answered softly, fiddling with the engagement ring on her finger.

"A promise? To who?"

She looked up and smiled. "To you. Remember? I promised to protect anyone I could while you work your way to the top."

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind..."

"I know, but I also know that without the certification I wouldn't have been able to really do much. Being a civilian would have meant I would get left out of a lot, I wouldn't be allowed to know what was going on.. I would have gotten left behind.. I didn't want that, I want to be able to stand beside you through as much as I can. Becoming a State Alchemist was the only way I could do that."

"I can't say that I'm happy, but if this is what you want... then... Welcome aboard, Major Elric."

* * *

Kate followed along behind Roy, keeping a respectable distance any time he spoke with someone whose rank didn't allow her to overhear what was being discussed. Central Command had turned out to be a waste of trip. At least in terms of information. All there was was a blood trail from a library room where important documents were kept to the phones and a young woman who was still quite shaken by what she had seen. A bleeding Lieutenant Hughes picking up a receiver before appearing to realize something and leaving the building as quickly as his wounded body would take him.

From Central command they were shown to the phone booth that Hughes had attempted to call Roy from. It was still taped off so no one could go near it and a guard stood on duty to make sure nothing was tampered with. Blood still stained the floor of the booth and was dry and flaking from the lower portion of a window.

Upon seeing the amount of blood, Kate cringed and looked away. She couldn't imagine how hard it had to have been for Roy to see his best friend's blood and to be standing where he had been murdered. It was hard for her to keep tears from filling her eyes, Hughes had been a good man. He did not deserve to die in such a brutal manner.

"Colonel, I've found Major Armstrong for you."

Looking over her shoulder Kate saw Riza approaching with the large major behind her. He looked tired, but there was a hint of eagerness in his eyes. As if he knew something they didn't and wanted to share it.

"Good to see you, Major," Roy greeted professionally. "Why don't we go for a little walk?" He didn't wait for a response and began to casually stroll away from the guarded phone booth.

"What's being done to find Hughes's killer?" He asked when they had retreated away from the booth and were on a lonely stretch of sidewalk.

"His killers have not yet been found. We're doing all we can to search for them," the major replied. "We don't know who they are, but they are being tracked."

Kate was walking along behind the two men, Riza was beside her. She noticed that the blond woman was a bit too close, but figured that the limp that was beginning to make itself noticeable because of her left leg had something to do with that. The air was chill and it was making the connection of her remaining leg to the mechanical one ache. It also didn't help that they had been walking quite a bit, she walked everyday and usually good distances, but with breaks so that her body could rest and not overwork itself.

"They haven't been caught? Why on earth not? Explain yourself," Roy demanded.

They came to a stop, stepping in to an out of the way alley. Kate shivered and stayed near opening where the rest of the world was clearly visible as it went about its daily business. She knew Roy wasn't trying to be rough, he wanted answers and he had to be careful how he got those answers.

"I cannot," the major replied, shaking his head apologetically.

Roy's eyes flickered, something clicked behind their intelligent surface. "As a superior office I am ordering you to explain yourself. If the criminals are being tracked then why haven't they been arrested?"

"I cannot say."

A silence enveloped them in the alley, Roy studying Armstrong with a partial frown that indicated he wasn't happy with the refusal, but that he understood it as well. "Alright, I get it. Thank you for coming out here, you can go."

As he turned, his eyes met Kate's and he paused. Turning back to Roy, he said, "I forgot to mention it, but the Elric brothers were in town up until a few days ago."

"Oh, is that so?" Roy asked.

Both of the men looked at Kate, who blinked and fidgeted under the sudden scrutiny. "Yes, but you already knew that... That's why I came here."

"So, did he find what he was looking for?" Roy asked.

"No, he did not. It's a rare artifact after all," Armstrong answered.

"That's true. Thank you, Major," Roy replied.

The large man nodded and continued on his way.

"Well I take it he's under orders of some higher up to not speak about what happened to Hughes and what it involved, but bringing up my brothers? Is he implying it had to do with the Philosopher's Stone?" Kate inquired stepping closer to Roy.

"I think so. He was quite helpful."

"Helpful?" Riza asked. "He hardly said anything."

"But he managed to say a lot at the same time," Kate said. "He said that they were searching for Hughes's killers, so there's more than one."

"Meaning a group or organization may be to blame," Roy continued. "And by refusing to answer my question, even when I pulled rank, definitely means one of the brass has ordered him to remain silent about whatever events led to Hughes's murder."

"I can try to contact Ed, he may be to tell us what it was he was doing that landed him in the hospital. I never had the chance to ask, I was always a bit distracted either by Hughes or Al's little breakdown. I can leave a message with his teacher in Dublith, it may not reach him for a few days since they're stopping in Rush Valley, but-"

"I think I already have an idea. An abandoned research facility was destroyed the same night Ed landed himself in the hospital. If your brother was there then that facility must have something to do with all of this," Roy said.

"And probably with the Philosopher's Stone, too," Kate sighed.

"It would be dangerous to go investigate there so soon after what has happened," Roy mused. "It might be better to wait until my transfer to Central goes through. Then I can-"

"Transfer to Central?" Kate cut in. "What transfer?"

Roy smirked his devilishly charming yet mischievous smile at her. "It's not official yet, but it won't be long."

She tweaked an eyebrow. "I had forgotten how much of an arrogant ass you could be."

"Well," he piped up with a grin, "Too late to turn back now. You're stuck with me."

"Don't remind me," Kate muttered, rolling her eyes playfully and gazing down the street while trying not to grin at Roy. The grin that threatened to break out on her face was drowned by the need to grimace when a chill breeze worked its way down the alley and into her bones. She shivered and the ache in her leg intensified, she shifted all of her weight to her still whole leg to try and lessen the pain.

"You alright?" Riza asked, stepping up beside the woman and placing a hand on her shoulder to help steady her.

Nodding, Kate offered a forced smile. "Yeah, just a little cold."

"Lets get back to the Hughes's home," Roy suggested. "We'll get your things and then head back to the hotel. We'll be leaving for East City in the morning."

"We will?" Kate inquired. She hadn't been aware they would be returning to East City so soon. She also knew that they would be taking the train, it was the quickest way to the city. That meant that there would several hours with little to do except for her to explain her actions to Roy who was still rather unhappy with her induction into the State Alchemists.

"Yes," Roy replied, smirking when he caught the hesitation in Kate's voice. "The train ride should be interesting, don't you think?"

* * *

~A/N~

Sorry about the wait... I'm back in school and don't have much time to write. I've also been having issues with out internet service provider... Anyways, though, hope this chapter was alright. I have plans for this story I just need to get them down on paper. Which is not as easy as it sounds unfortunately...

Thank you for all of the support as always!

Please review!


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